The story of the famous Trojan horse, with the help of which about 30 Odysseus fighters were able to get inside Troy. Historians still argue to this day whether the Horse actually existed.

Eyewitness testimony

During the reign of Emperor Augustine, there lived the ancient Roman writer Virgil. He wrote an epic poem "Aeneid", it was written about the travels of Aeneas from Troy to Italy. Some historians believe that the poet wrote everything from reliable sources. In the end, his poetic testimony about the tragedy of Troy was able to enter into world history, and the phrase “Trojan horse” itself has become a household word. Thus, the military cunning of 30 fighters was able to crush the fortress, which the huge army of King Menelaus could not take.

The attackers, before lifting the siege, informed the Trojans that they had built an amazing wooden "horse" which symbolizes peace, as well as this offering to Athena as a sign of atonement for sins. Also, while the horse is standing, they will not attack. Sinon told the Trojans about all this; he was the cousin of Odysseus, who allegedly went over to the side of the defenders.

Wooden horse

The Trojan horse, judging by the descriptions, was about 8 meters high and about 3 meters wide. A roughly similar model, which was built in our days, weighed about two tons and could accommodate about 20-25 men of average constitution, typical of those times. In order to roll such a structure over the logs, they were greased and it took 40 people.

Believe it or not?

In order to carry out preparatory work, it took several days. Consequently, if there were actually Odysseus’s fighters in this structure, then it would have been very difficult for them.

After the horse was brought to Troy, its fate began to be decided in the city. Most residents believed that such an offering should be burned. There was also a soothsayer in the crowd Cassandra, who pointed her hand at the wooden horse, declaring that wars are hidden in it. Laocoon- a Trojan priest, threw a spear at the horse, calling not to trust the enemies. “Fear the Danaans, even those who bring gifts,” he shouted. Soon, legend said that he and his two sons were strangled by sea serpents.

Some data says this happened June 6, 1209 B.C. In the evening, numerous guards were posted in front of the “horse” of the Greeks, but alcohol intoxicated them. Late at night, all thirty fighters led by Odysseus got out of the “horse” and opened the gates of the city. So great Troy has fallen.

The reason for the Trojan War was a dispute between three goddesses: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, to whom the daughter of the Night Eris threw an apple with the inscription “To the Most Beautiful”. Of the three, Paris chose Aphrodite, who became his patroness. But then Paris sailed by ship to Greece, stayed in Sparta in the house of Menelaus and, taking advantage of his absence, stole his beautiful wife Helen and took him with him to Troy. With the support of his brother Agamemnon, Menelaus gathered a large army, which set off to conquer Troy and liberate Helen.

For ten years the Greeks waged military operations against the Trojans and could not conquer the besieged city. Then the cunning Odysseus proposed to take him by deception: to build a huge wooden horse, which could accommodate the strongest and bravest warriors. Leave him in front of the gates of Troy, and the entire army sail away on ships away from the shore. Let the Trojans think that the siege has been lifted and the Greeks have left forever, and this wooden horse is like a gift from them. When the Trojans bring the horse into the city, the soldiers will get out of it at night, kill the guards, open the city gates, and the Greek troops who arrive at night will enter the city.

Not everyone supported Odysseus's plan. Many leaders doubted that the Trojans were so naive that they would believe in the selfless “gift” of the Greeks. But since there were no other plans, we decided to try it. The famous artist Epeus drew a sketch of a war horse, and the warriors began to build it in large sizes. The horse turned out to be gigantic. The best warriors entered. The entrance hole was quietly sealed. After this, the Greeks turned their camp and went to the ships. The Trojans watching them from the walls were perplexed. Did they really lift the siege, why did they leave the horse then?

The Trojans opened the gates and saw that the Greeks had indeed abandoned their camp. Their ships disappeared from the horizon. They looked at the giant horse with interest, trying to understand for what purpose the Greeks made it. They started arguing. Some offered to bring him into the city, others, among them the priest Laocoon, were convinced that this was a military trick of the Greeks and the horse should be burned. Laocoon even threw a spear at the horse, and there was a sound reminiscent of the clanking of weapons.

But the Trojans, delighted at the lifting of the siege, no longer listened to him. Their attention was attracted by two snakes floating on the sea. They crawled ashore next to Laocoon and his two sons, who were about to make a sacrifice, and suddenly wrapped themselves around them. All the Trojans fled in fear. Laocoon could not cope with the snakes; they bit him and strangled him. Laocoön and his children became exhausted and fell lifeless. And the snakes, having completed their work, crawled into the sea.

The Trojans believed that Laocoon had angered the goddess Athena with his suspicion, and she sent snakes to kill him. They boldly rode their horse into the city and closed the gates.

Late at night, the Greeks got out of the horse's interior, opened the gates and let in the Greek army, which was already standing under the walls of the city. And houses immediately burst into flames, entire streets were on fire. The Greeks spared no one. The awakened Trojans tried to resist. But it was already too late. The Greeks captured the palace and killed King Priam. Menelaus managed to find his wife Helen. He took her hand and led her to the ship. The Greeks left the city in the fire of conflagrations. Troy practically ceased to exist.

About the great and bloody war and how thirty fighters decided the outcome of the battle that happened in 1193 BC. we learned thanks to Homer's poem "Iliad". This is a story about the naivety of defenders and the cunning of attackers.

Myth of Troy

The Trojan prince Paris fell in love with the beautiful Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus. He managed to persuade the beauty to escape and, taking advantage of the absence of Menelaus, the loving couple sailed to Troy. The insulted Menelaus, together with his brother Agamemnon, gathered a huge army and hurried after the fugitives.

The bloody war between the Spartans and Trojans lasted for ten years. Great warriors met in battle, their names went down in history forever - Achilles, Hector, Patroclus, etc.

The strong walls of the city were impregnable to the Greeks. Then Odysseus, king of Ithaca, came up with one trick - to build a huge statue of a horse, hollow inside, into which the soldiers would climb. But how to force the Trojans to drag the statue through the impregnable walls of the city? And the cunning Greek foresaw this.

Fall of Troy

In the morning, the Trojans discovered a huge statue of a horse near the city walls with an inscription that said that this horse was built in honor of the goddess Athena and as long as it stood, the Greeks would not attack the Trojans. The Greeks themselves removed their camp and sent the ships home. The Trojans were able to convince the Trojans of this by Odysseus’s cousin Sinon, who allegedly went over to their side. However, the controversy surrounding the horse did not subside; Cassandra stated that there were warriors in the statue of the horse, but they did not believe her. The priest Laoocon threw a spear at the statue, exclaiming “Fear the Danaans who bring gifts.” However, later, according to legend, he and his two sons were strangled by sea serpents, which became a sign for the Trojans to drag the statue into the city.

Residents of the city threw a feast in honor of the end of the war, and numerous guards also succumbed to the celebration. Therefore, the Greeks who got out of the statue were freely able to open the city gates and let in the army of their compatriots. Helen was returned to her husband, and the city was burned to the ground.

Was there a horse?

About existence Trojan horse Historians still argue about the location of Troy to this day.

In his book “Description of Greece,” the Roman scholar and traveler Pausanias, who lived around the 2nd century AD, writes that the Horse existed, but it was not a statue, but a battering ram, captured from the Greeks by the Trojans. The Trojans took him to the city so that the Greeks would not destroy the city walls, but the townspeople, in the confusion, did not notice the hidden soldiers.

There is also another version. At that distant time, it was said about the rowers in the hold of a ship that it was hard for them, like in the belly of a horse. It is possible that Homer called the ship in which Odysseus’s soldiers were hiding “horse”.

According to Homer's descriptions, the Trojan Horse was about 3 meters wide and 7.6 meters high. Built as described today, the model weighed approximately two tons and could accommodate no more than twenty men of average build.

In order to drag this structure, forty people would have been needed and the preparatory work would have taken several days, so the warriors hiding in the horse would have had a hard time at all.

In 2011, the National Geographic TV channel made a film about the guesses of scientists, new research in the field of studying the Trojan War, in which historians and archaeologists will try to figure out where Troy was? Did the Trojan Horse exist? And finally, did the Beautiful Helen exist?

National Geographic Channel's Troy Movie

Troy in the cinema

There are many productions about the Trojan War. The most recent film adaptation is the film "Troy", shot in 2004 by American director Wolfang Petersen. The heroes of the Iliad will once again meet in mortal combat, and ancient events will sparkle with new colors. But the fact that this film adaptation is the last does not mean that the others are significantly worse. For example, in the film “Helen of Troy” the scene with the horse is also very impressive.

Scene from the film “Helen of Troy” (video)

Regardless of whether Homer's Iliad is fact or fiction, the poem is beautiful and instructive. It gave food to filmmakers around the world and food for thought to many military strategists. So, during the Second World War soviet soldiers have used similar tactics many times.

Even after long battles, the Greeks could not take possession of the city. Then Odysseus decided to act by cunning. He advised the Greeks to build such a huge wooden horse that the most powerful warriors could hide in it. And when the Trojans bring the horse into the city, the heroes will come out at night and open the gates of the city. Odysseus assured that this was the only way to take Troy. The prophetic Kalkhant, to whom Zeus sent a sign, also convinced the Greeks to resort to cunning.

The famous artist Epeus and his student, with the help of the goddess Athena, built a huge wooden horse. It included armed warriors. Aeneas closed the hole through which the heroes entered so tightly that it was impossible to even think that there was someone on the horse. Then the Greeks burned all the buildings in their camp, boarded a ship and sailed to the open sea.

From the high walls of Troy, the besieged saw extraordinary movement in the Greek camp. Suddenly they noticed that thick clouds of smoke were rising from the Greek camp. Rejoicing, the Trojans left the city and went to the camp, which was really abandoned, with buildings still burning out in some places. They were sure that the siege had finally ended, all troubles had passed, and they could now indulge in peaceful labor.

Suddenly the Trojans stopped in amazement when they saw a wooden horse. They looked at it and were at a loss as to what this amazing structure was. Some of them advised throwing the horse into the sea, others - taking it to the city and placing it on the acropolis. An argument began. Then the priest of the god Apollo, Laocoon, appeared before the disputants. He passionately began to convince his fellow citizens to destroy the horse.

Laocoon was sure that the horse was some kind of military trick invented by Odysseus. Laocoon did not believe that the Greeks had abandoned Troy forever. He begged the Trojans to beware of the horse. Laocoon grabbed a huge spear and threw it at his horse. The statue shuddered from the blow, and the weapon inside it rattled dully. But the gods darkened the minds of the Trojans - they still decided to take the horse to the city.

Suddenly a loud scream was heard. It was the shepherds who were leading a bound prisoner who surrendered voluntarily. This captive was the Greek Sinon. The Trojans surrounded him and began to mock him. Sinon stood silently, fearfully looking at the enemies surrounding him. Finally, he spoke. He complained bitterly, shedding tears, about his evil fate. Sinon Priam and all the Trojans were touched by the tears. They began to ask the detainee who he was and why he stayed. Then Sinon told a fictitious story that Odysseus had invented for him in order to deceive the Trojans.

The Trojans believed the cunning Greek. Priam ordered his release and asked what the meaning of this wooden horse, left by the Greeks in the camp, meant. This was the only question Sinon was waiting for. Calling the gods to witness that he was telling the truth, Sinon said that the horse was left to appease the formidable Athena. The Trojans believed Sinon. He deftly played the role that Odysseus entrusted to him.

The Trojans were further convinced that Sinon was telling the truth by the terrible snakes sent by Athena. They quickly swam to the shore, twisting in the waves. The creatures crawled ashore and all the Trojans fled in horror. The snakes rushed at the two sons of Laocoon and wrapped themselves around them. Laocoon hastened to help his sons, but snakes also entwined him. With their sharp teeth they tormented the bodies of the priest and his two sons. The unfortunate man tried to tear the snake off himself and free his children, but in vain. The poison penetrated deeper into the body.

The suffering of Laocoon and his sons was terrible. Laocoon died, seeing the terrible death of his innocent children, he died because he wanted, contrary to the will of God, to save his homeland. The snakes, having completed their vile deed, crawled away and hid under the shield of the statue of Athena.

The death of Laocoon finally convinced the Trojans that they must bring the wooden horse to Troy. They dismantled part of the city wall, since the huge statue could not be transported through the gate. The horse stopped four times, hitting the wall when they dragged him through the gap, and the Greek weapons rattled menacingly from the shocks, but the townspeople did not hear this. Finally, they dragged the horse to the acropolis.

Prophetic Cassandra was horrified when she saw the horse. She foreshadowed the death of Troy, but the Trojans responded with laughter - they never believed her predictions.

The warriors sat on their horses in deep silence, sensitively listening to every sound coming from outside. They heard beautiful-haired Elena calling them by name, imitating the voice of their wives. Odysseus forcibly restrained one of the heroes, covering his mouth so that he would not answer.

Night has fallen. Troy fell into a deep sleep. Sinon's voice was heard near the wooden statue - he let the heroes know that they could now leave. Sinon also managed to build a large fire at the gates of Troy. This was a sign to the Greeks who had taken refuge behind Tenedos to hurry to the city. Carefully, trying not to make any noise with their weapons, the heroes dismounted; the first were Odysseus and Aeneas. The heroes scattered along the sleepy streets of Troy. Houses burst into flames, illuminating the dying city with a bloody glow. The rest of the Greeks also came to the aid of the heroes. A terrible battle began. The Trojans defended themselves with whatever they could.

In anger, Menelaus would have killed the beautiful Helen, but Agamemnon held him back. The goddess Aphrodite again awakened love for Helen in the chest of Menelaus, and he solemnly led her to his ship.

Of all the heroes of Troy, only Aeneas escaped, carrying his old father Anchises and his little son Ascanius out of the city in his arms. The Greeks also spared the Trojan hero Antenor. He repeatedly advised the Trojans to hand over the beautiful-haired Helen and the treasures of Menelaus stolen by Paris.

Troy was still burning for a long time. Clouds of smoke rose high into the sky. The gods mourned the death of the great city. This huge funeral pyre was visible in the distance. Pala Troy is the most powerful city in Asia. The Achaeans won, but at what a high cost!

The formidable hordes of the commander, Agamemnon, king of kings

I looked around at the crowds of people who had survived the prey -

And he bowed his head,

Obsessed with a sad thought -

Many of them came to Troy,

Few of them will return with him...

Homer, "Iliad".

Trojan War did not bring success to either side. It turned into a tragedy, but generated not by chance, but by the inscrutable ways of fate. The fate of Troy, the Trojans, and the Achaean heroes was predicted and inexorable. For most of its participants, the Trojan War brought death or shame, exile.

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After ten years of exhausting war and siege, one fine morning the Trojans, not believing their eyes, saw that the Greek camp was empty, and on the shore stood a huge wooden horse with a dedicatory inscription: “In gratitude for the future safe return home, the Achaeans dedicate this gift to Athena.” . Ancient people treated sacred gifts with great reverence, and, by the decision of King Priam, the horse was brought into the city and installed in the citadel dedicated to Athena. When night came, the armed Achaeans sitting on horseback got out and attacked the sleeping inhabitants of the city. (See Appendix 3) So, thanks to the horse, Troy was captured, and so the Trojan War ended.

Nowadays, this legend is known to everyone, and the Trojan horse itself has long become a common noun - our ironic contemporaries even named a destructive computer virus after it. The fact that Troy fell because of a horse is taken as an axiom. But if you ask someone why the horse was the cause of the death of Troy, the person will most likely find it difficult to answer.

It turns out that this question was asked already in ancient times. Many ancient authors tried to find a reasonable explanation for the legend. A wide variety of assumptions were made: for example, that the Achaeans had a battle tower on wheels, made in the shape of a horse and upholstered in horse skins; or that the Greeks managed to enter the city through an underground passage on the door of which a horse was painted; or that the horse was a sign by which the Achaeans distinguished each other from their opponents in the dark... It is now generally accepted that the Trojan horse is an allegory of some kind of military trick used by the Achaeans when taking the city.

There are many versions, but none of them gives a satisfactory answer. Who knows - maybe the Trojan horse will reveal its secret to us a little.

So, let's try to enter into the position of the Achaeans. Simulating the lifting of the siege, they were supposed to leave something under the walls of Troy that the Trojans would simply be obliged to take into the city. Most likely, this role should have been played by the initiatory gift to the gods, because neglecting the sacred gift from the point of view ancient man meant to offend the deity. And an angry deity is not to be trifled with. And so, thanks to the inscription on the side, the wooden statue receives the status of a gift to the goddess Athena, who patronized both the Achaeans and the Trojans. What to do with such a dubious “gift”? I had to bring it (albeit with some caution) into the city and install it in a sacred place.

However, the role of a dedicatory gift could be played by almost any sacred image. Why was the horse chosen? Troy has long been famous for its horses; because of them, traders came here from all over the world, and because of them, raids were often made on the city. In the Iliad, the Trojans are called “hippodamoi,” “horse tamers,” and legends say that the Trojan king Dardanus had a herd of magnificent horses, descended from the northernmost wind Boreas. In general, the horse was one of the creatures closest to humans in ancient horse breeding, agricultural and military culture. From this point of view, it was quite natural for the Achaean warriors to leave a horse under the walls of Troy as a dedicatory gift.

By the way, the images for sacred statues and sacrificial gifts were not chosen by chance. Each deity had animals dedicated to him, and it could take on their appearance: for example, Zeus in myths turns into a bull, Apollo into a dolphin, and Dionysus into a panther. In Mediterranean cultures, the horse in one of its aspects was associated with the fertility of the fields, with a bountiful harvest, with mother earth (in ancient mythology, the goddess Demeter sometimes turned into a mare). But at the same time, the beautiful freedom-loving animal was often associated with violent, spontaneous and uncontrollable force, with earthquakes and destruction, and as such was the sacred animal of the god Poseidon.

So, maybe the key to unlocking the Trojan horse is in the “Earth Shaker” Poseidon? Among the Olympians, this god was distinguished by his unbridled character and penchant for destruction. And he had old scores to settle with Troy. Perhaps the destruction of Troy by a horse is just an allegory of the strong earthquake that destroyed the city?

In some, especially archaic, traditions, the horse symbolizes the transition to another space, to another qualitative state, to a place inaccessible to ordinary means. On a horse with eight legs, the shaman makes his mystical journey; among the Etruscans, the horse transports the souls of the dead to the underworld; the wonderful horse Burak carries Muhammad to heaven.

According to Homer, the Trojan War lasted almost ten years; for ten years the Achaeans could not take the walls of the city, built, according to myth, by the god Poseidon himself. In fact, from the point of view of myth, Troy was an “inaccessible” place, a kind of “enchanted city” that could not be defeated by ordinary means. In order to get into the city, the heroes did not even need military cunning, but a special, magical “carrier”. And such a carrier becomes a wooden horse, with the help of which they accomplish what they have been trying to do for ten years without success.

But if you follow this version, then Troy, described by Homer, takes on a completely special meaning. It's about no longer about a small fortress on the banks of the Pontus and not even about the capital of the ancient state of Asia Minor. Homeric Troy receives the status of a certain transcendental place for which a battle is being waged. And the battles taking place under the walls and within the walls of this Troy are by no means a vendetta between two tribes, but a reflection of events that receive global significance. The Trojan Horse opens the last act of this world drama.

By the way, this is confirmed by the scale of the war. Archaeologically, Troy is just a small fortress. To take it, according to Homer, ships are sent from 160 city-states of Greece - from 10 to 100 ships, that is, a fleet of at least 1600 ships. And if you multiply by 50 warriors each - this is an army of more than 80 thousand people! (For comparison: Alexander the Great needed about 50 thousand people to conquer all of Asia.) Even if this is the author’s hyperbole, it indicates that Homer attached exceptional importance to this war.

Almost all the heroes, both Achaeans and Trojans, die under the walls of Troy. And of those who survive the war, many will die on the way home, some, like King Agamemnon, will find death at home at the hands of loved ones, others will be expelled and spend their lives wandering. In essence, this is the end of the heroic age. Under the walls of Troy there are no victors and no vanquished, heroes are becoming a thing of the past, and the time of ordinary people is coming.

Of the heroes who fought under the walls of Troy, only two survived: Odysseus and Aeneas. And this is no coincidence. Both of them have a special mission. Aeneas will set out to create his “new Troy” and lay the foundation for Rome, the civilization of the world to come. And Odysseus... the “much-wise and long-suffering” hero will make a great journey home to find his promised land. In order to lose and regain everything that is dear to him on his journey, including given name. To reach the borders of the inhabited world and visit countries that no one has seen and from which no one has returned. To go down to world of the dead and again “resurrect” and wander for a long time on the waves of the Ocean, the great symbol of the Unconscious and Unknown.

Odysseus will make a great journey, in which the “old” man will symbolically die and a “hero of the new time” will be born. He will endure great suffering and the wrath of the gods. This will be a new hero - energetic, insightful and wise, inquisitive and dexterous. With his ineradicable desire to understand the world, his ability to solve problems not with physical strength and valor, but with a sharp mind, he is not like the heroes of the “old” world. He will come into conflict with the gods, and the gods will be forced to retreat before man.

It is probably no coincidence that Odysseus will become the ideal of the coming era - classical Greece. Together with Troy he will forever leave old world, and something mysterious and intimate will go with it. But something new will be born. This will be a world whose hero will be man: a master and a traveler, a philosopher and a citizen, a man no longer dependent on the forces of Fate and the game of the gods, but creating his own destiny and his own history.

By the way, it is interesting that the horse is also symbolically associated with birth and death. A horse made of spruce wood, carrying something in its belly, symbolizes the birth of a new one, and the Trojan horse is made of spruce planks, and armed warriors sit in its hollow belly. It turns out that the Trojan horse brings death to the defenders of the fortress, but at the same time it also means the birth of something new.