THE TROJAN HORSE

THE TROJAN HORSE

According to a legend of Greece, Helen was the most beautiful woman that ever lived. She was the daughter of the Greek God Zeus born to a woman called Leda. It is said that in Greece there was no prince or ruler who did not want to marry her. She finally chose to marry Menelaus, King of Sparta. However, one day Paris, a prince from the far away city of Troy, came to visit the King and when he saw Helen he fell in love with her.

Paris carried Helen away with him to Troy and Menelaus distracted with grief, begged the warriors of Greece to join him in trying to get her back. His brother Agamemnon, King of the splendid city of Mycenae joined him along with many others such as Achilles, the mightiest fighter of all, the bold Diomedes, the strong but slow witted Ajax and the clever Ulysses who was always ready with cunning plots when force of arms failed. There was the old experienced warrior Nester, too, who was looked upon for his experience and advice.

The Greeks set sail for Troy with a splendid fleet. The Trojan refused to give up Helen and so began the Trojan War.

The Greek Army camped outside the city of Troy. Because there was a strong wall around the city, the Greeks couldn’t get in. The Greek soldiers tried to knock the wall down but they couldn’t. They tried to climb over it, but the Trojans always pushed them off with their swords and spears.

Sometimes Trojan soldiers would surprise the Greeks by rushing out of their walled city and fighting. But after the fight they would always hurry back behind the wall and lock the big heavy gate.

 For almost ten years the battle of Troy went on neither side gaining much advantage.

Then the Greeks thought of a trick. They started building a horse of wood. They built it bigger and bigger. The Trojans, watching from the top of their city wall, were puzzled. Why would the Greek soldiers spend their time building this giant wooden horse? The Trojans were still more puzzled when they looked down from their wall one morning and saw that the Greek Army had gone away. The Trojans didn’t see any Greek soldiers at all. They didn’t see any army tents. They didn’t see any warships. All they could see was the strange wooden horse, standing tall outside their gate.

The Trojans came cautiously out of Troy and examined the deserted camp. The huge wooden horse standing on the plain astonished them greatly. Some believed it was a religious object and wished to drag it into the city. Laocoon, a priest opposed thi, saying, ‘I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts.’ He struck the horse with a spear and a hollow sound was heard. Just then, a great sea snake seized Laocoon’s two sons and crushed them to death, along with Laocoon who went to save them.

  The terrible fate of Laocoon convinced the Trojans that the horse was a sacred object which had been insulted. At that moment, a Greek called Simon came to the Trojans and said that he had deserted the Greeks and that the horse could protect them if it was taken into the city of Troy.

The Trojans needed no more persuasion. Singing with joy they dragged the horse within the walls with the help of ropes. As they entered, one of the king’s daughter Cassandra shouted, ‘Burn the horse! Throw it into the sea! I had a bad dream about this horse. It means danger to us!’

But the Trojans didn’t listen. They liked the beautiful wooden horse. They pulled it inside the walls. They thought the war was over. They put their swords and spears away. They sang and danced around the horse. They had a big party.

Finally, the Trojans went to sleep. Then the Greeks played the rest of their trick. Not all of the Greeks had sailed away on the warships. Ulysses had chosen some tough fighting men to hide themselves inside the hollow wooden horse. Now at night they crept out and signaled to their friends on the warships. The warships had not sailed very far away. They had hidden behind an island. The Greek soldiers who climbed out of the wooden horse opened the gates of Troy to all the soldiers from the warships. The Greeks caught the Trojans completely off guard. They captured the city of Troy and took Helen back to Greece.

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