3. The Trojan Horse and the conquest of Troy
The myth of the Trojan Horse, in which Greek troops hid in order to deceive and eventually conquer the Trojans, may well be based in fact, at least partially. Siege engines, movable structures used to batter down walls or gates, were used in warfare at the time. Built largely of wood, they were often covered with hides, including horsehides, to protect them from flaming arrows or other projectiles. Homer did not mention the Trojan Horse in his first work describing the war, the Iliad. Virgil’s Aeneid first mentioned the device and its use; it is described as a wooden horse. Homer included the tale in his subsequent work, the Odyssey. Though the ancient poems romanticize the story, scholars debate whether the tale of deception using some form of siege engine could include substantial historical facts.
One possibility is that a ship served as the “horse”, decorated on its prow with a wooden horse’s head, and containing hidden troops. Ships so decorated were common during the period of the Trojan War, as reflected in contemporaneous literature and art. Homer’s Odyssey even refers to ships as “seahorses” in one verse. A ship certainly would provide a more convenient means of transporting more than three dozen hidden warriors than a giant wooden horse on massive wheels. Whether a wooden horse, a ship, or a complete fabrication, the story of the Trojan Horse remains one of the most referenced in history. The term refers to evil intent concealed within an otherwise harmless appearance. Today, anti-malware software prides itself on the ability to detect and destroy Trojan horses.
Read too: Modernizing the Trojan Horse.