15 – The Trojan Horse
This is another remarkable historical myth that some people took as fact once upon a time. It says that during the Trojan War, the Greek soldiers were able to take the city of Troy after 10 years of fighting by hiding inside a wooden horse. The Greeks created this horse and offered it as a token of peace to their foes. Yet the horse was hollow and large enough to conceal Greek soldiers. The Trojans took the gift and brought it into the city. Once they were asleep, the Greeks inside the horse came out and opened the gates to the city. The rest of the Greek army stormed the city and slaughtered the Trojans in their beds.
To be fair, it was long assumed that the city of Troy itself was a myth. That is until a German businessman and archaeology lover, Heinrich Schliemann, actually found evidence of the city’s existence at the Turkish site of Hissarlik in the 1870s.
Our sources for the story of the Trojan Horse are Book II of Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s Odyssey. Homer’s works were created in around the 8th century B.C. and were composed orally. Little is known of Homer other than the fact he did exist and we don’t know who finally wrote down these epic poems. Virgil lived in the first century B.C. and his Aeneid is modeled on Homer’s work.
The tale of the Trojan Horse should not be taken literally. A number of historians believe the ‘Horse’ was actually a battering ram or siege machine which was used to smash down the walls of Troy. This piece of equipment may have been in the shape of a horse and the ‘peace offering’ might have referred to a boat carrying a peace envoy.
There is even doubt over whether the Trojan War ever happened although some evidence has come to light. Classical sources state that the Trojan prince Paris eloped (or kidnapped) Queen Helen of Sparta. Her husband Menelaus convinced his brother Agamemnon (king of Mycenae) to go to war to get her back. The result was a decade long war which only ended thanks to the Trojan Horse trick.
Eratosthenes said the war took place from 1194-1184 B.C. although modern sources believe it could have happened during an 80 year period from 1260-1180 B.C. Archaeological excavations at the site of Troy uncovered skeletons and charred debris which are dated to 1180 B.C. Certainly, Troy was a real city that suffered destruction. Its ruins would have been visible for centuries so perhaps this is what inspired Homer to create his story of the Trojan War.