Trojan horse: Difference between revisions

From Citizendium
Jump to navigation Jump to search
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz
No edit summary
mNo edit summary
 
(22 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{subpages}}
{{subpages}}
The '''Trojan Horse''' was a [[history|historically]] famous [[military]] deception in which a besieging army of the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] expeditionary force hid warriors inside a tall wooden structure built to resemble a horse, and sailed away, pretending the war was over. The besieged [[Troy|Trojans]], further deceived by a Greek left behind to plant a false story about the horse, were fooled into believing that the decade-long [[Trojan War]] was over, and wheeled the large structure inside their walls partly under the belief that doing so would . Trojans failed to heed the warning of the savvy [[priest]] [[Laocoön]] who suspected trickery. At night, with Troy asleep, select Greek fighters inside the hollowed-out belly of the horse slipped out and opened the city's gates, which allowed returning Greek shipboard warriors to swarm through the city's walls, and Troy was sacked and burned. Whether this incident happened as described in numerous Greek [[epic]] [[poetry|poems]] and [[Greek tragedy|Greek tragedies]], and was fully described in the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] poet [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid|The Aeneid]]'' has never been firmly established, although there is strong evidence that there was a city of [[Troy]] in [[Asia Minor]] in northwestern [[Turkey]]. The term ''Trojan horse'' has been used in [[computer]] terminology to describe [[malware]] which tricks a user to let into one's computer, by appearing [[innocent]], but which causes damage afterwards.
{{Image|Trojan horse in Troja, Prague 2717.JPG|right|300px|Armed Greek warriors hid quietly inside a giant wooden horse in a ruse that ended the ancient Trojan War.  This imagined recreation of the Trojan horse stands in [[Prague]].}}
{{Image|J G Trautmann Das brennende Troja.jpg|right|200px|"The burning of Troy", a painting by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1769).}}
the '''Trojan Horse''' in Greek mythology was a famous trick by which the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] defeated the [[Troy (ancient city)|Trojans]] to end the [[Trojan War]] by offering them an apparent grand gift, a giant wooden horse, whose real purpose was to allow Greek soldiers hidden inside it to infiltrate the city and open the city gates to the Greek invaders. The term ''Trojan horse'' has became a widely understood metaphor meaning any kind of deceptive gift which contains secret harm.  It passed into [[computer]] terminology to describe [[malware]] which tricks a user to allowing harmful software onto one's computer by appearing to be beneficial.


[[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' does not describe the episode of the Trojan horse, although there are references thoughout indicating that the bard [[Homer]] expected listeners to the tales to be thoroughly familiar with the basic events of the Trojan War. The [[strategy|strategist]] credited with thinking up the famous ruse, according to [[mythology]], was the wily [[Odysseus]], [[king]] of [[Ithaca (Greece)|Ithaca]]. The strategy solved a puzzle preventing the Greeks, with a numerically superior force, couldn't solve on the open battlefield; since Troy had strong and tall walls, the ten-year war was essentially a [[stalemate]].
The main literary work set at Troy is [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'', an [[epic]] Greek [[poem]] which tells the story of the final year of the Trojan War, but it is his [[Odyssey]] that first touches on the Trojan horse trick.  The Trojan horse is discussed at length in [[Virgil]]'s Latin epid poem, the [[Aeneid]], Book II.


It was necessary to persuade the Trojans to move the large wooden horse physically inside their walls. To trick them, the Greeks left behind a man prepared with an ingenious lie. The Trojans emerged from their walls to find the Greek fleet departed, with a giant wooden horse near the shore, and a man supposedly abandoned by the Greeks. His name was [[Sinon]], according to [[Virgil]] in ''The Aeneid'', described by the [[poetry|poet]] as a "cool intriguer". Sinon was seized by Trojan warriors and brought before [[King Priam]]. Sinon pretended to have had a falling out with the Greeks, particularly with [[Ulysses]], who had supposedly planned to have sacrificed him; but according to the story, Sinon had escaped from the sacrifice. Sinon begins by pleading for his life:
The stratagem for the classical Trojan horse was devised by Prylis the son of [[Hermes]], or, in other accounts, by [[Odysseus]]The Greek expeditionary force besieging Troy pretended to sail away, leaving behind the enormous horse, constructed by Epeius, in which Greek soldiers under the command of Odysseus had secreted themselves., The horse had an inscription invoking [[Athene]]'s aid for a safe return to their homes.
 
The Trojans were further deceived by Sinon, a Greek left behind to signal to the fleet.  Sinon was seized by Trojan warriors and brought before [[King Priam]]. He began by pleading for his life:
<blockquote>What land, what waters, can take me now? There is nothing, nothing left for me any more, no place with the Greeks, and here are the Trojans howling for my blood.<ref name=twsApr7f44r>{{cite news
<blockquote>What land, what waters, can take me now? There is nothing, nothing left for me any more, no place with the Greeks, and here are the Trojans howling for my blood.<ref name=twsApr7f44r>{{cite news
  |author= Virgil; translated by Rolfe Humphries
  |author= Virgil; translated by Rolfe Humphries
  |title= The Aeneid
  |title= The Aeneid
  |publisher= Charles Scribner's Sons
  |publisher= Charles Scribner & Sons
  |pages= 34-39
  |pages= 34-39
  |date= 1951
  |date= 1951
  |accessdate= 2010-04-07
  |accessdate= 2010-04-07
}}</ref></blockquote>
}}</ref></blockquote>
The Trojans pitied him, and listened to his story. He establishes that he was, in fact, a Greek, but that he had had a falling out with the Greeks.<ref name=twsApr7f44r/> Sinon explains that the Greeks were tiring of the war, but were told to sacrifice one of their own; according to Sinon's lie, the Greeks chose him for the sacrifice, but he escaped in time; hence, he didn't leave with the Greek fleet. He wins the confidence of the Trojans, who untie him and promise to spare his life. At this point, the curious Trojans ask him about the horse:
He explained that it had been proposed to sacrifice him in order to change the winds that prevented the Greeks from returning home, that the horse was likewise to appease Athene, and that  it was deliberately built so large that it couldn't enter the walls of Troy; but if it was damaged, harm would come to those who damaged it.  
<blockquote>Why they have built this monstrous horse? Who made it? Who thought of it? What is it, war-machine, religious offering?<ref name=twsApr7f44r/></blockquote>
And Sinon explained that the horse was an offering to the [[Greek god|goddess]] [[Athena]] or [[Minerva]] (Roman name) to appease her [[anger]], and it was deliberately built so large that it couldn't enter the walls of Troy; but if it was damaged, harm would come to those who damaged it. He explained:
<blockquote>It was [[Calchas]], again, who bade them build a mass so mighty it almost reached the [[stars]], too big to enter through any gate, or be brought inside the walls. For if your hands should damage it, destruction, (May God avert it) would come upon the city, but if your hands helped bring it home, then [[Asia]] would be invading [[Greece]], and doom await our children's children (ie the Greeks).<ref name=twsApr7f44r/></blockquote>
<blockquote>It was [[Calchas]], again, who bade them build a mass so mighty it almost reached the [[stars]], too big to enter through any gate, or be brought inside the walls. For if your hands should damage it, destruction, (May God avert it) would come upon the city, but if your hands helped bring it home, then [[Asia]] would be invading [[Greece]], and doom await our children's children (ie the Greeks).<ref name=twsApr7f44r/></blockquote>
The ruse suggested to the Trojans that IF they brought the horse within their city, that this would meet the blessing of Athena, and secure for them luck for generations thereafter. Sinon did not say this explicitly; rather, his story led the Trojans to this [[disaster|disastrous]] [[conclusion]]. Accordingly, the Trojans brought the horse inside the city and had to knock down a portion of their walls for the contraption to enter.


According to the account by Virgil, the Trojan priest [[Laocoon]] and his two sons were killed by giant serpents from the sea, who thereafter slithered to the temple of [[Minerva]], and the Trojans interpreted this, incorrectly, that they must appease Minerva by bringing the horse into the city. At night, Sinon opened the underside to the horse, allowing warriors inside including [[Ulysses]] to emerge, and they killed the Trojan guards, opened the gates, and Troy was sacked. In the ''Aeneid'', Virgil's line ''Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes'' meaning ''I fear Greeks even those bearing gifts'' which has been paraphrased to ''Beware Greeks bearing gifts''.<ref>http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/VirgilAeneidII.htm#_Toc536009311</ref> [[Priam|King Priam]]'s daughter [[Cassandra]], the [[soothsayer]] of Troy, insisted that the horse would be the downfall of the city and its royal family but she too was ignored, hence their doom and loss of the war.
The Trojan king [[Priam]] was warned by the [[priest]] [[Laocoön]] ("I fear the Greeks, even when bearing gifts") as well as his own daughter [[Cassandra]]. In order to reduce Laocoön's credibility, [[Apollo]] sent two serpents to kill him and his two sons, and the warnings were ignored.  The horse was brought into the city, even though part of the wall had to be knocked down for the purpose


The Greek soldiers hidden inside the horse are thought to have included: [[Odysseus]], [[Agamemnon]], [[Acamas]], [[Agapenor]], [[Ajax the Lesser]], [[Amphimachus]], [[Antiklos]], [[Antiphates]], [[Cyanippus]], [[Demophon of Athens|Demophon]], [[Diomedes]], [[Echion]], [[Epeius]], [[Eumelus]], [[Euryalus]], [[Eurydamas]], [[Eurymachus]], [[Eurypylus]], [[Ialmenus]], [[Idomeneus]], [[Iphidamas]], [[Leonteus]], [[Machaon (mythology)|Machaon]], [[Meges]], [[Menelaus]], [[Menestheus]], [[Meriones (mythology)|Meriones]], [[Neoptolemus]], [[Peneleus]], [[Philoctetes]], [[Podalirius]], [[Polypoetes]], [[Sthenelus]], [[Teucer]], [[Thalpius]], [[Thersander]], [[Thoas]], [[Thrasymedes (mythology)|Thrasymedes]]. But the list of warriors varies according to differing accounts.
At night, with the people of Troy asleep, selected Greek fighters inside the hollowed-out belly of the horse slipped out and opened the city's gates, which allowed the returning Greek army to enter and sack the city.
 
The list of warriors inside the horse varies according to differing accounts, with numbers varying between 23 and 50.
 
[[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' does not describe the episode of the Trojan horse, although there are references thoughout indicating that the bard expected listeners to the tales to be thoroughly familiar with the basic events of the Trojan War.
 
Commentators both classical and modern have doubted the story, and there have been various explanations, such as the horse actually being a siege tower covered with horse hides, or that Greeks, after burning their camp, hid behind Mount Hippius ("of the horse")


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Suggestion Bot Tag]]

Latest revision as of 16:00, 30 October 2024

This article is developing and not approved.
Main Article
Discussion
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.
(GNU) Photo: Hynek Moravec
Armed Greek warriors hid quietly inside a giant wooden horse in a ruse that ended the ancient Trojan War. This imagined recreation of the Trojan horse stands in Prague.
(PD) Photo of a painting: Johann Georg Trautmann
"The burning of Troy", a painting by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1769).

the Trojan Horse in Greek mythology was a famous trick by which the Greeks defeated the Trojans to end the Trojan War by offering them an apparent grand gift, a giant wooden horse, whose real purpose was to allow Greek soldiers hidden inside it to infiltrate the city and open the city gates to the Greek invaders. The term Trojan horse has became a widely understood metaphor meaning any kind of deceptive gift which contains secret harm. It passed into computer terminology to describe malware which tricks a user to allowing harmful software onto one's computer by appearing to be beneficial.

The main literary work set at Troy is Homer's Iliad, an epic Greek poem which tells the story of the final year of the Trojan War, but it is his Odyssey that first touches on the Trojan horse trick. The Trojan horse is discussed at length in Virgil's Latin epid poem, the Aeneid, Book II.

The stratagem for the classical Trojan horse was devised by Prylis the son of Hermes, or, in other accounts, by Odysseus. The Greek expeditionary force besieging Troy pretended to sail away, leaving behind the enormous horse, constructed by Epeius, in which Greek soldiers under the command of Odysseus had secreted themselves., The horse had an inscription invoking Athene's aid for a safe return to their homes.

The Trojans were further deceived by Sinon, a Greek left behind to signal to the fleet. Sinon was seized by Trojan warriors and brought before King Priam. He began by pleading for his life:

What land, what waters, can take me now? There is nothing, nothing left for me any more, no place with the Greeks, and here are the Trojans howling for my blood.[1]

He explained that it had been proposed to sacrifice him in order to change the winds that prevented the Greeks from returning home, that the horse was likewise to appease Athene, and that it was deliberately built so large that it couldn't enter the walls of Troy; but if it was damaged, harm would come to those who damaged it.

It was Calchas, again, who bade them build a mass so mighty it almost reached the stars, too big to enter through any gate, or be brought inside the walls. For if your hands should damage it, destruction, (May God avert it) would come upon the city, but if your hands helped bring it home, then Asia would be invading Greece, and doom await our children's children (ie the Greeks).[1]

The Trojan king Priam was warned by the priest Laocoön ("I fear the Greeks, even when bearing gifts") as well as his own daughter Cassandra. In order to reduce Laocoön's credibility, Apollo sent two serpents to kill him and his two sons, and the warnings were ignored. The horse was brought into the city, even though part of the wall had to be knocked down for the purpose

At night, with the people of Troy asleep, selected Greek fighters inside the hollowed-out belly of the horse slipped out and opened the city's gates, which allowed the returning Greek army to enter and sack the city.

The list of warriors inside the horse varies according to differing accounts, with numbers varying between 23 and 50.

Homer's Iliad does not describe the episode of the Trojan horse, although there are references thoughout indicating that the bard expected listeners to the tales to be thoroughly familiar with the basic events of the Trojan War.

Commentators both classical and modern have doubted the story, and there have been various explanations, such as the horse actually being a siege tower covered with horse hides, or that Greeks, after burning their camp, hid behind Mount Hippius ("of the horse")

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Virgil; translated by Rolfe Humphries. "The Aeneid", Charles Scribner & Sons, 1951, pp. 34-39. Retrieved on 2010-04-07.