The Trojan Horse

The Greeks and the Romans had been at war for ten years. The exhausted Greek army had been camped around the important city of Troy in ancient Turkey.  The magnificent city walls were unbreakable, and the soldiers outside were desperate for victory. 

Early one morning, while he was having his traditional power breakfast with helpless generals, the old Greek king Odysseus had a brilliant idea.  

The king decided to have a huge, hollow wooden horse built, which would be big enough for a crack squad of brave soldiers to hide inside.

Eventually the enormous horse was built by the determined Greek soldiers. A corps of elite troops got into the well-built wooden horse. Others set fires to their shabby camp as they pretended to sail back to Greece. However, all of the courageous soldiers were hiding nearby. 

As the Trojans were tired of the endless fights, they were extremely delighted to see the Greeks had left.  When they came out from the never-opened gate, they found a breathtaking wooden horse which they had never seen before. Of course, they were very curious about it.  Meanwhile, the Trojans asked the sole remaining Greek soldier about the giant wooden horse.  He explained that the distinctive wooden horse was an offering to the goddess Athena.

The Trojans accepted the gift. They tried to pull the gigantic wooden horse into the city, but it was so big that they had to tear down a part of the impregnable city wall.  The Trojans took the mighty wooden horse to the temple of Athena in the centre of the city, and had a big party to celebrate the end of the war.

Finally, the Trojans relaxed and all the exhausted soldiers fell asleep.  Exactly at that time the patient Greek soldiers crept out from their hiding place in the fortress, the wooden horse, and killed all the Trojan guards at the gate before signalling the waiting Greeks to attack the sleeping city.  

The bloody battle finished soon. The Greeks had won the historic war. The miserable Trojan men were slaughtered; the women and children were taken back to Greece as hard-working slaves.

Posted for Sayuri & Teruki