Download The Trojan Horse

24—Tall Tales & World History
The Trojan Horse
A reason to look a gift horse in the mouth
A Fun Fact
In Greek Mythology,
the Trojan Horse was
disguised as a gift, but
secretly let Greek
soldiers into Troy.
In computer software,
a Trojan Horse is
disguised as a
legitimate program,
but it actually harms
the computer.
The Quick Version of the Story…
This story goes back over 3,000 years. . Somewhere
around the 12th or 13th century BC, the armies of Ancient
Greece squared off against the armies of Troy (a nation-state in
Asia Minor, which is currently located near the nation of Turkey) in
the famous Trojan War.
The war is wrapped up in legend and myth, but it is
said to have started when the King of Troy kidnapped a Greek
woman named Helen. Helen just so happened to be the most
beautiful woman in the world, and apparently was well worth
fighting for.
After ten years of brutal warfare, the Greek soldiers
were still unable to penetrate the walls of Troy. Then someone
came up with a brilliant idea.
The Greeks decided to build a giant wooden horse, and
they convinced the Trojans (as the people of Troy were known)
25— Tall Tales & World History
that the horse was a gift. There were a few skeptics, but the
Trojans decided to allow the wooden horse to enter Troy.
Of course, there was a catch. The Trojan Horse was so
large that an entire Greek army was able to hide inside of it.
Once the horse was safely inside the city walls, the Greek
warriors popped out and gained a victory in the Trojan War.
What it tells us about World History…
Ironically, there’s a saying that goes, “Never look a gift
horse in the mouth.” Obviously, that piece of advice did not
originate from the lessons of the Trojan War (the saying actually
refers to the practice of judging a horse by looking at its teeth).
The Trojan Horse, along with many of the details of the
Trojan War, are a part of Greek Mythology. The war was first
recorded by Homer in his epic poems the Iliad and The Odyssey.
Both of these poems were written almost 500 years after the
Trojan War was said to have been fought.
The specific details of the Trojan Horse were recorded by
a poet named Virgil, who wasn’t born until 1,000 years after the
war was fought.
With so little to go by, how can anyone be sure that there
was a Trojan War? A few ways. For starters, most Greek
Mythology came from oral stories that had passed from
generation to generation. These stories helped keep alive certain
historical events (such as the Trojan War), or they explained how
things came to be (for example, why was there an echo when you
yelled into a cave, or why did the sun set in the west).
These myths proved to be great starting points for future
historians. In the late 1900s, archaeologists used the clues that
Homer gave them, and started to excavate in modern day
Turkey. After some serious digging, they uncovered the ancient
city of Troy. As the stories suggested, there were signs that the
city came to an end through war (i.e. slingshot bullets were
uncovered) in the 12th century BC. It should be noted, however,
that nobody found a giant wooden horse.