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War and Conflict

Trojan War

What is a Trojan horse?

Thanks to the Greek poet Homer (c. 850-? B.C.), a Trojan horse has come to symbolize anything that looks good but is actually subversive. According to his Trojan war epic the Iliad, after nearly 10 years of fighting the Trojans for control of their city, the Greek Mycenaean army built a huge wooden horse on wheels and offered it as a gift to their enemy. Leaving the “peace offering” outside the city walls of Troy, the Mycenaean army then departed. Despite warnings (including one from the Trojan princess Cassandra), the Trojans accepted the gift, and they opened the gates and wheeled the huge wooden horse into the city. It was a naive move: Once the horse was inside the city gates, Mycenaean soldiers who were hidden inside the wooden structure took Troy by storm, ending the decade-long campaign and taking control of the lucrative Black Sea trade.



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