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"If doomed it be indeed
that Priam's burg, by guile must fall before
the war-worn Achaeans, a great horse let us
fashion, in the which our mightiest shall take
ambush ... Then shall war's signal unto us be
given—to them at sea, by sudden flash of
torch, to the ambush, by the cry, 'Come forth the
Horse!' when unsuspecting sleep the sons of
Troy." [Odysseus
to the Achaeans. Quintus Smyrnaeus,
The
Fall of Troy 12.25]
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The WOODEN HORSE is the stratagem by means of
which Troy was taken.
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Insight
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After ten years of fruitless military efforts,
the Achaeans realized that
Troy perhaps could be taken
by cunning instead of by force, and this insight
invited them to construct a WOODEN HORSE, which was
to become the instrument of their victory. They let
an armed force hide itself inside the horse, and in
order to induce the Trojans to bring it within the
walls, they left it abandoned in the plain,
feigning retreat after engraving on the horse a
treacherous inscription:
"For their
return home, the Achaeans dedicate this
thank-offering to Athena." [Apollodorus,
Library
"Epitome" 5.15]
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Idea of Helenus 1
|
This came about, some say, after the capture or
desertion of the Trojan seer
Helenus 1, who, after
telling the Achaeans that there was no hope left
for Troy once the
Palladium had been
stolen from the city, declared that they should
offer a WOODEN HORSE to
Athena, making it so
large that the Trojans would have to breach the
city walls in order to take it in. Having thus been
instructed by the seer, the Achaeans brought a
great deal of wood, and appointed the architect
Epeius 2 and Ajax 2 to
supervise the work.
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Idea of Odysseus
|
Others say that it was
Odysseus who conceived
the construction of the WOODEN HORSE, telling the
assembled Achaeans:
"If doomed it
be indeed that Priam's burg, by guile must fall
before the war-worn Achaeans, a great horse let us
fashion, in the which our mightiest shall take
ambush."
[Odysseus to the
Achaeans. Quintus Smyrnaeus,
The
Fall of Troy 12.25]
That horse, Odysseus
advised, was to be left abandoned in the plain, and
the Achaean army should burn the tents and sail
away to Tenedos (the island off the Troad), so that
the Trojans, believing that the invaders were gone,
should come to the deserted Achaean camp and find
the horse. Crouching beneath its shadow, as
Odysseus said, a man
should be left to tell the Trojans a single
deceiving line: that the Achaeans had sailed home,
and that the horse was their offering to
Athena, to appease her
wrath because of the theft of the
Palladium, so that she
should grant a safe return.
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Epeius 2 builds the horse
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The man they soon appointed to stay behind while
the army feigned retreat was
Sinon, now remembered for
the great lies he told the Trojans when they met
him. But meanwhile, the architect Epeius 2 fell
timber on Mount Ida, fashioning the horse with a
hollow belly, an opening in the side, and complete
in all its details, as they say, in three days.
Epeius 2 made it big like a ship. He bespangled
the purple-fringed mane with gold; ringed the
blood-read amethyst eyes with green beryl gems; set
white rows of teeth in the jaws; opened paths in
the mouth to let the air come in; fixed pricked up
ears; let the flowing tail trail unto the heels;
made the hooves of bronze; set a ladder inside and
adorned the outside with purple-flowered straps,
and the bridle with ivory and bronze. And when the
horse had been wrought, Epeius 2 set a wheel under
each of its feet.
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Epeius 2 (holding hammer
and chisel), between Athena and
Agamemnon (sitting under
a tree), presents the WOODEN HORSE. An
army representative approaches from the
left
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The Achaeans feign retreat
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When the horse was ready, the Achaeans let the
best among them hide inside it, burned their tents,
and leaving only Sinon
behind, sailed away either to Tenedos or to cape
Sigeum where they were to wait for a signal from
the same Sinon.
At dawn the Trojans beheld, not without
surprise, the camp of the Achaeans deserted, and
believed that they had fled. So they ran in joy to
the shore where they found the marvellous horse
standing.
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Sinon's lies
|
It was then that they also found
Sinon, who told the
Trojans (some say under cruel torture) the same
single line over and over again:
"The Achaeans
in their ships flee overseas, weary of tribulation
of endless war. This horse by
Calchas' counsel fashioned they for wise
Athena, to propitiate."
[Sinon to the
Trojans. Quintus Smyrnaeus,
The
Fall of Troy 12.375]
He later also told them:
"If you allow
it to abide her in its place, it is decreed that
the spear of the Achaeans shall capture
Troy; but if
Athena receive it a holy offering in her
shrine, then they shall flee away with their task
unaccomplished."
[Sinon to
Priam 1. Tryphiodorus,
The
Taking of Ilios 296].
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Cassandra and
Laocoon 2
|
Sinon's account was
defined by Laocoon 2 as
"a fraud", and also
Cassandra warned the
Trojans, declaring that there was an armed force
inside the WOODEN HORSE. But no one listened to
Cassandra; for the
same god who gave her the gift of prophecy in
exchange for a promise she never fulfilled, caused
her prophecies not to be believed.
Laocoon 2 also warned
them with well remembered words:
Trojans, trust
not the horse. Whatever it be, I fear the Greeks,
even when bringing gifts."
[Laocoon 2 to
the Trojans. Virgil,
Aeneid
2.48]
... and he even cast his spear against the
horse. But since Laocoon
2 was overwhelmed by adverse circumstances
(among which the snakes that attacked his sons),
many argued that the man could not be right, and
that he had got what he deserved. So the horse was
brought either to the shrine of
Athena, in the heart of
the city, or stationed beside the palace of
Priam 1.
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Helen and the horse
|
It is told that when the WOODEN HORSE was in the
city, Helen went round it
and called the names of different Achaean
commanders, imitating the voices of each of their
beloved wives. Such artistry is best performed by a
child of Zeus: she did it
with such a skill that Anticlus would have answered
from the horse's belly, but
Odysseus held fast his
mouth so hard that Anticlus lost his breath and
died.
Some may think that
Helen was thus inducing
the Achaeans to reveal themselves before the time
was ripe. Others may think that this was not her
intention, since she is also reported to have
displayed a torch from her chamber for the Achaean
fleet to see and know that they should make the
final assault. Still others may think that she
found pleasure in helping both Trojans and Achaeans
on the same day.
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The force come forth
|
In any case, when night fell and the Trojans,
after having celebrated victory, were asleep,
Sinon showed his message
with a shining brand to the Achaeans. At the same
time the horse was unlocked, and the armed force
came forth, lighted the walls, and opened the gates
of the city for the rest of the army, which, on
arriving, slaughtered whomever they found, in
homes, streets, temples, or any other place, sacred
or not.
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Acamas 1 fled when the
DIOSCURI attacked
Athens. Later he went to
Troy together with
Diomedes 2 to ask for
the restoration of Helen.
After the war he brought back his grandmother
Aethra 2 who was captive in
Troy. Acamas 1 was son of
Theseus and
Phaedra, daughter of
Minos 2. He married
Laodice 3, daughter of Priam
1, and had by her a son Munitus, who was killed
by the bite of a snake while hunting at Olynthus in
Thrace [Apd.Ep.1.18, 1.23, 5.22; Dio.4.62.1;
Eur.Hcl.115ff.; Hyg.Fab.108; Parth.16.1;
Pau.10.10.1, 10.26.2; QS.4.332, 12.314ff.,
13.497ff.; SI.4; Try.177, 662; Vir.Aen.2.62].
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Agapenor. King of the Arcadians. Agapenor
was one of the SUITORS
OF HELEN. After the war he founded Paphos in
Cyprus. Agapenor was son of Ancaeus 1 and Iotis.
Ancaeus 1, one of the
ARGONAUTS, was son of
King Lycurgus 2 of
Arcadia, son of Aleus,
son of Aphidas 1, son of Arcas 1, son of
Zeus and
Callisto [Apd.3.10.8;
Hom.Il.2.609; Pau.8.5.2; QS.12.314ff.].
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Ajax 2.
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Amphidamas 6 [Try.182].
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Amphimachus 7 [QS.12.325].
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Anticlus [see main text above].
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Antimachus 6. A Cretan warrior who came
with King Idomeneus 1 of
Crete to fight against
Troy. Antimachus 6 was
killed by Aeneas
[QS.6.622, 12.314ff.].
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Antiphates 5 [Try.180].
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Calchas.
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Cyanippus. King of
Argos, son either of
Adrastus 1, the leader
of the SEVEN AGAINST
THEBES, and Amphithea 1, or of Aegialeus 1 and
Comaetho 4. Cyanippus died childless [Apd.1.9.13;
Pau.2.18.4-5; Try.159].
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Demophon 1, who later became King of
Athens was brother of
Acamas 1 (see above). He asked
Agamemnon for the
freedom of his grandmother Aethra 2 and
Agamemnon granted his
request after receiving
Helen's consent. After the
war he asked Agamemnon
for the freedom of his grandmother Aethra 2, who
after the misadventure of Theseus with
Helen and the destruction
of Aphidnae by the
DIOSCURI, had become
Helen's maid.
Agamemnon granted his
request after receiving
Helen's consent.
On his return from Troy
Demophon 1 came with a few ships to the land of the
Thracian Bisaltians. There he became the lover of
the king's daughter Phyllis 1, and her father gave
her to him with the kingdom for her dowry. However,
the wedding could not take place immediately
because Demophon 1 wished to return to
Athens, but he swore to
return. When he departed Phyllis 1, who was
desperately in love with this man, made with him
part of the road and when they parted company she
gave him an enchanted casket containing a sacrament
of the Mother of the Gods, which he was not to open
until he knew for certain that he would not return
to Thrace. Some say that he should had returned on
an appointed day, and that on that day Phyllis 1
ran down to the shore nine times to see whether his
sail showed up. When it became clear that Demophon
1 would not return, she hanged herself after
cursing her lover. It is also said, however, that
she died out of longing for him, and that round the
tomb that her parents made for her, trees sprang
that, at a certain season, grieve for her, their
leaves growing dry and blowing away. And then again
some say she prepared her own epitaph:
"Demophon sent
Phyllis to her doom. Her guest he was, she loved
him well. He was the cause that brought her death
to pass. Her own the hand by which she fell."
[Ovid,
Heroides
2.145]
In any case it is said that she thought that
this would be a good inscription to be written
under the image of Demophon 1 in
Athens:
"This is he
whose wiles betrayed the hostess that loved him."
[Ovid,
Heroides
2.75]
By the time Phyllis 1 died Demophon 1 was in
Cyprus, and so soon he opened the casket she had
given him he felt invaded by panic. So, out of
control, he mounted his horse, and when the animal
stumbled he was thrown, fell on his sword and died.
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Diomedes 2.
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Echion 4 died when he jumped from the
WOODEN HORSE [Apd.Ep.5.20].
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Epeius 2 is the architect who constructed
the WOODEN HORSE, with the help of which the
Achaeans could take Troy;
he was himself among those warriors who hid inside
it. He was victorious in boxing at the games
celebrated in honour of
Patroclus 1. Epeius 2
was son of Panopeus 1, son of Phocus 3, son of
Aeacus [Apd.Ep.4.7, 5.14;
Eur.Tro.10; Pau.2.29.4; Pla.Rep.620c; QS.12.81,
12.138ff., 12.314ff.; Try.57; Vir.Aen.2.264].
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Eumelus 1. Leader of Pherae, a city in
Thessaly, and son of Admetus 1 and
Alcestis. Eumelus 1,
who had been one of the
SUITORS OF HELEN,
married Iphthime 1, sister of
Penelope [Apd.3.10.8;
Hom.Il.2.715ff.; Hom.Od.4.797; QS.12.314ff.;
Try.172].
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Euryalus 1. Leader from
Argos, son of Mecisteus 1.
Euryalus 1 is counted among the
ARGONAUTS, and the
EPIGONI [Apd.1.9.16,
3.7.2; Hom.Il.2.565; QS.12.314ff.].
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Eurydamas 6. Son of Pelias 4 [Try.181].
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Eurymachus 5 [QS.12.321].
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Eurypylus 1. Leader of the Ormenians, who
got a cursed chest after the war and on seeing it
went mad. He was one of the
SUITORS OF HELEN,
and among those who hid inside the
WOODEN HORSE .
Eurypylus 1 was son of Evaemon 1, son of Ormenus 3,
son of Cercaphus 2, son of
Aeolus 1, and of Opis 2
[Apd.3.10.8; Hyg.Fab.97; Pau.7.19.6, 10.27.2;
QS.12.314ff.; Try.176].
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Ialmenus 1 led the troops of Aspledon and
Minyan Orchomenus.
Ialmenus 1 is counted among the
ARGONAUTS, and the
SUITORS OF HELEN
[Apd.1.9.16, 3.10.8; Hom.Il.2.494ff.; Hyg.Fab.97;
QS.12.314ff.].
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Idomeneus 1 was Leader of the Cretans. At
his return from the war he was driven out of
Crete by the usurper
Leucus 1 who besides had become the lover of
Idomeneus 1's wife Meda 2, whom Leucus 1 later
killed, along with Idomeneus 1's daughter
Clisithyra. Nothing is told about Idomeneus 1's son
Orsilochus 4. Idomeneus 1, who is counted among the
SUITORS OF HELEN
and those who hid inside the
WOODEN HORSE, was
son of Deucalion 2, son of
Minos 2 [Apd.3.3.1;
Apd.Ep.3.11ff., 6.10; Hom.Od.13.260; Hyg.Fab.81;
QS.12.314ff.; Try.168].
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Iphidamas 3. Brother of Eurydamas 6 [see
above] [Try.181].
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Leonteus 1 is a Lapith Leader against
Troy, who buried
Calchas at Colophon
(Asia Minor) after the war. Leonteus 1 was son of
Coronus 1, son of Caeneus 1, he who once was a
woman called Caenis, but was turned into an
invulnerable man by
Poseidon, and for being
invulnerable was buried alive in the earth by the
CENTAURS [Apd.3.10.8;
Apd.Ep.6.3; Hom.Il.2.726ff., 2.746, 12.128;
QS.7.484, 12.314ff.; Try.176].
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Machaon. This son of
Asclepius, who came
from Tricca, a city in western Thessaly Tricca,
was, as his father, a healer, and he took care of
the wound that the arrow of Pandarus 1 inflicted on
Menelaus when the truce
was broken during the
Trojan War. He
practised surgery while his brother treated
sicknesses. He also healed the wound of
Philoctetes. Machaon
married Anticlia 3, daughter of Diocles 1, son of
Orsilochus 1, son of the river god Alpheus. Some
say that Machaon was killed at
Troy by Eurypylus 6 from
Mysia, but others say he was killed by the Amazon
Penthesilia [Apd.3.10.8; Apd.Ep.5.1; Dio.4.71.4;
Hom.Il.2.732, 4.215ff.; Hyg.Fab.97, 108;
Pau.2.11.5, 2.23.4, 2.29.1, 2.38.6, 3.26.9, 4.30.3;
Prop.2.1.59; QS.6.408; SI.5; Vir.Aen.2.63].
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Meges 1 was a leader against
Troy from Dulichium, and
commander of the Epeans. He was son of Phyleus 1,
son of King Augeas of Elis.
Meges 1 is counted among the
SUITORS OF HELEN
[Apd.3.10.8; Eur.IA.285; Hom.Il.13.692; Hyg.Fab.97;
QS.12.314ff.; Try.180].
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Menelaus.
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Menestheus 1 was given the sovereignty of
Athens by the
DIOSCURI and became
Leader of the Athenians against
Troy. After the sack of
Troy, Menestheus 1 went to
Melos and reigned as king, because the king there,
Polyanax, had died. He was son of Peteos, an
Egyptian, who later obtained Athenian citizenship,
but who had to migrate from
Athens to Phocis when
pursued by Aegeus 1.
However it is also said that Peteos' father, Orneus
1, was a son of King Erechtheus of
Athens. Menestheus 1 was
one of the SUITORS OF
HELEN [see Athens]
[Apd.3.10.8; Apd.Ep.1.23, 6.15b; Hes.CWE.68.42;
Hom.Il.2.536ff., 2.552; Pau.1.23.8; QS.12.314ff.].
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Meriones was a Leader from
Crete against
Troy and the squire of King
Idomeneus 1 of Crete. Some
call him son of Minos 2,
and others a bastard son of Deucalion 2
[Hom.Il.7.166; Hyg.Fab.81, 97; QS.12.314ff.].
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Neoptolemus.
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Odysseus.
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Peneleus. A Boeotian leader during the
Trojan War, also
counted among the
ARGONAUTS and the
SUITORS OF HELEN.
Peneleus was son of Hippalcimus 2, son of Itonus 2,
son of Boeotus, after whom the Boeotians are
called. Peneleus was killed at
Troy by Eurypylus 6. His
grandson Damasichthon 2 was chosen to be king at
Thebes on the departure
of Autesion 1 [Apd.1.9.16, 3.10.8; Hom.Il.2.494;
Hyg.Fab.97; Pau.9.5.15-16; QS.7.104; Try.180].
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Philoctetes.
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Podalirius. This son of
Asclepius healed
Philoctetes, when
this one returned from
Lemnos, and after the
Trojan War settled in
the Carian Chersonese [Apd.3.10.8; Apd.Ep.3.11ff.,
5.8, 6.18; Dio.4.71.4; Hom.Il.2.732; Pau.2.29.1,
3.26.10; QS.12.314ff.; SI.5].
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Polypoetes 1. Leader of the Gyrtonians
against Troy. He buried
Calchas at Colophon
after the war. Polypoetes 1 is son
Pirithous, he who had
the brilliant idea of marrying
Persephone and for
her sake descended to the
Underworld where he
is still sitting on the Chair of Forgetfulness.
Polypoetes 1 is one of the
SUITORS OF HELEN
[Apd.3.10.8; Apd.Ep.6.3; Dio.4.63.1;
Hom.Il.2.670ff., 12.182; Pau.10.26.2;
QS.12.314ff.].
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Sthenelus 2. Once one of the
EPIGONI and one of the
SUITORS OF HELEN
Sthenelus 2, from Argos,
became one of the
ACHAEAN LEADERS.
His father was Capaneus, one of the
SEVEN AGAINST
THEBES [Apd.3.7.2, 3.10.8; Apd.Ep.6.10;
Eur.IA.246; Hom.Il.2.564; Hyg.Fab.97, 108;
Pau.2.18.5; QS.12.314ff.; Vir.Aen.2.61].
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Teucer 1. This is Telamon's bastard son,
Leader of the Salaminians against
Troy and later King of
Cyprian Salamis. His mother was
Hesione 2, daughter of
the Trojan king Laomedon 1. Teucer 1 had been one
of the SUITORS OF
HELEN [Apd.3.10.8; Eur.Hel.87 and passim;
Hom.Il.8.285ff.; Hyg.Fab.97; Pau.1.23.8, 2.29.4;
Pin.Nem.4.46; QS.12.314ff.; Soph.Aj. passim;
Try.170].
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Thalpius was Leader of the Eleans against
Troy, son of Eurytus 1, one
of the MOLIONIDES [Apd.3.10.8; Hom.Il.2.536ff.,
2.620; Pau.5.3.4; QS.12.314ff.].
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Thersander 1, son of Polynices, became
King of Thebes after the
war of the EPIGONI. Some
say he was killed by
Telephus when the
Achaean fleet against Troy
arrived by mistake in Mysia. But if that were true
he could not be inside the WOODEN HORSE [Apd.3.7.2;
Apd.Ep.3.17; CYP.1; Hdt.4.147, 6.52; Hyg.Fab.71,
108; Pau.9.5.14-15; Pin.Oly.2.43; Vir.Aen.2.61].
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Thoas 2. Leader of the Aetolians against
Troy.
Odysseus in exile after
having killed the
SUITORS OF
PENELOPE came to him and married his daughter.
Thoas 2 was King of Pleuron and
Calydon and grandson of
Oeneus 2, the negligent king who forgot
Artemis in his
sacrifices, causing the wrath of the goddess who
sent the Calydonian Boar [see
Calydon] to ravage the
country [Apd.Ep.3.11ff., 7.40; Hom.Il.13.216;
Hyg.Fab.81, 108; Pau.5.3.6; QS.12.314ff.;
Vir.Aen.2.62].
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Thrasymedes 1. This son of
Nestor is known for
having been commander of a group of sentinels
during the Trojan War
[Hyg.Fab.97].
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