W is for Wooden Horse

Another difficult letter, but I managed to find something :)
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
A Wooden Horse was the weapon used by the Greeks to win the Trojan War, started in part by Aphrodite (see my last post). When Paris of Troy abducted Helen (married to Menelaus, King of Sparta) he gathered an army to help him bring her back.

However, the city of Troy had huge walls which the Greeks couldn't penetrate. The battle went on for a long time, and the Greeks could do nothing to damage the city.

They created a huge, hollow wooden horse, pretending it was a peace token for the Trojans. The Trojans accepted this gift, and that night Greeks came out of the horse and opened the city gates, allowing the rest of the army into the city and destroy it.

Comments

  1. Nick Wilford26 April 2013 at 11:02

    Lister in Red Dwarf said it best... "Beware of Trojans, they're total smegheads!" If it was me, I definitely would have treated that horse a lot more cautiously!

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  2. Unknown26 April 2013 at 11:57

    This is a great story and wise words to live by: Beware of Greeks (or enemies) bearing gifts!

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  3. Dani26 April 2013 at 12:19

    Oh those tricky Trojans! Classic story of wolf in sheeps clothing.

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  4. Alex J. Cavanaugh26 April 2013 at 14:11

    The Trojans were too overconfident to spot the trick.

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  5. L.G. Keltner26 April 2013 at 15:51

    Yay to Nick for the Red Dwarf reference! The Trojan Horse is a classic story.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mark Means26 April 2013 at 15:57

    Ah, so that's where the expression "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts" came from... :)

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  7. Rob Z Tobor26 April 2013 at 16:46

    I can imagine Boldrick saying to the General "I have this cunning plan, we could make a huge wooden horse".

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  8. Outcast26 April 2013 at 18:32

    I love this story Laura, just about how simple the trick was yet they fell for it, so interesting.

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  9. Anonymous26 April 2013 at 21:01

    So intense! And such a creative and crafty solution too!

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  10. Unknown26 April 2013 at 21:39

    Very creative military tactic.

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  11. Anonymous27 April 2013 at 02:05

    I just can't imagine how the Trojans felt. Definitely a facepalm moment. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Unknown27 April 2013 at 03:43

    After a decade of siege, they must have just wanted it to be over already. Hadn't they learned anything about that crafty Odysseus?

    ReplyDelete

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