The epic war between the kingdom of Troy and the Greek alliance, the Achaeans, contains many fascinating stories, however the most famous is most likely the story of the Trojan Horse.
The war which happened around the 13th century BCE, was in fact a ten-year siege of the city by a coalition of Greek forces led by King Agamemnon of Mycenae.
“The Iliad “and “The Odysseus” by Homer
After 10 years of war, of numerous adventures and struggles, the Greek army grew tired of the conflict. The cunning Odysseus , the king of Ithaca, suggested as a last attempt that the Greek army use a subterfuge to breach the walls and conquered victory.
In the span of three days, the Greek army constructed a giant wooden horse, burned their tents, and sailed just out of sight, leaving one of them Sinon, a very persuasive smooth talker behind in order to convince the Trojans that the Greeks had indeed sailed back home.
The Greeks had engraved an inscription on the horse, saying it was an offering to Athena, and Sinon, the sweet talker was able to convince the Trojans that the offering done to Athena was genuine.
He lied about the goddess Athena being outraged at the late theft of her statue by Odysseus inside Troy. He talked about Athena’s threat to punish the Greeks and that the Greeks figured out that the only way to calm the powerful goddess was to show their respect by building a gigantic wooden horse before leaving, defeated, to their homeland.
“Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts”
Some of the Trojans such as Cassandra and Laocoon, the priestess and the priest in Apollo’s temple, warned their people that it could be a trick .
Laocoon said famously “ Timéo Danaos et dona ferentes “ according to the Roman author Virgil in his book Aeneid between 29 and 19 BCE . It has been translated in English as the proverbial expression «Beware of Greeks bearing gifts». Its literal meaning is «I fear the Danaans ( the Greeks) even when they bear gifts “.
Cassandra
Cassandra was the daughter of Priam, the king of Troy. She became a priestess in the temple of Apollo, who subjugated by her beauty gave her the gift to predict the future.
But Cassandra refused herself to Apollo who was furious. As he could not take back from her the gift of prophecy he had just given to her, he cursed her and made sure that whatever she would say would be disbelieved by every one.
Since the fall of Troy, her name describes the curse of rightful warning being ignored : “to be a Cassandra “.
The Fall of Troy
Despite their rightful warnings, the Trojans were too eager to believe that they had won the war, to eager to end this decade long war. So the wooden horse was taken inside the city gates as it was the sacrifice for Athena and no one in his right mind would willingly outraged the mighty goddess. The people of Troy began celebrating.
In the middle of the night, Odysseus and the other Greeks who had stayed hidden in a secret compartment inside the wooden horse came out inside the city, lighting the beacons at the top of the walls to signal for the Greek fleet to return. While the drunken Trojan soldiers were heavily sleeping, Odysseus and his companions were able to open all the gates of Troy to the Greek armies that massacred everyone, showing no pity.
Thanks to this cunning trick the Greek army was able to finally win the Trojan war and bring back Helen, Queen of Sparta.
The story is told at length in Book II of the Aeneid and is mentioned in the Odyssey.
The term Trojan horse has come to refer to a subversion introduced from the outside.