Possibly the most famous case of deception in human history - the legend of the Trojan Horse is actually an event which almost certainly occurred (in some capacity at least) to allow the Greeks to enter the city of Troy and end the 10-year-long siege of the city. In Homer's book "Odyssey" and in the Latin epic poem Aeneid of Virgil, the tale of the Trojan Horse is told. With the Greeks wanting to end the Trojan War, they pretended to sail away on their ships from Troy. However, little did the Trojans know that a select force of Greek soldiers had actually hidden inside a huge hollow wooden horse, which had wheels on the bottom, while the rest of the army sailed away. In celebration at their "victory", the Trojans pulled the horse into the city - without knowing that a few Greek soldiers were hidden inside. As the city of Troy slept that night, the covert Greek soldiers jumped from the horse, opened the gates to the city and allowed the returning army to flood in and destroy the inhabitants - finally ending the war. Historian Michael Wood, among others, has argued that it was not a giant mechanical horse at all that was used - but a battering ram in the shape of the animal. Whatever the case, it still proved to be a decisive blow in the war - and it gave birth to an incredible tale.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
Possibly the most famous case of deception in human history - the legend of the Trojan Horse is actually an event which almost certainly occurred (in some capacity at least) to allow the Greeks to enter the city of Troy and end the 10-year-long siege of the city. In Homer's book "Odyssey" and in the Latin epic poem Aeneid of Virgil, the tale of the Trojan Horse is told. With the Greeks wanting to end the Trojan War, they pretended to sail away on their ships from Troy. However, little did the Trojans know that a select force of Greek soldiers had actually hidden inside a huge hollow wooden horse, which had wheels on the bottom, while the rest of the army sailed away. In celebration at their "victory", the Trojans pulled the horse into the city - without knowing that a few Greek soldiers were hidden inside. As the city of Troy slept that night, the covert Greek soldiers jumped from the horse, opened the gates to the city and allowed the returning army to flood in and destroy the inhabitants - finally ending the war. Historian Michael Wood, among others, has argued that it was not a giant mechanical horse at all that was used - but a battering ram in the shape of the animal. Whatever the case, it still proved to be a decisive blow in the war - and it gave birth to an incredible tale.