The Story of the Trojan Horse
People often ask us how we got the name Trojan Horse Antiques. Since we are a 100% online business, folks wonder if it has something to do with a Trojan Horse virus that worms it's way into your computer. (Yuck!) Nope, certainly nothing as sinister as that. However, it is true that our company and the PC worms that plague the Internet world both got their "trojan horse" names from the same place -- ancient Greek mythology. Read on...
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica......
The Trojan Horse was a huge, hollow wooden horse constructed by the Greeks to gain entrance into the City of Troy during the Trojan War in the 12th or 13th century B.C. This legendary conflict stirred the imagination of the ancient Greeks more than any other event in their history, and was celebrated in the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer, as well as a number of other early works now lost, and frequently provided material for the great dramatists of the Classical Age. It also figures in the literature of the Romans (e.g., Virgil's Aeneid) and of later European peoples down to the 20th century.
In the traditional accounts, Paris, son of the Trojan king, ran off with Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta, whose brother Agamemnon then led a Greek expedition against Troy. The ensuing war lasted 10 years, finally ending when the Greeks pretended to withdraw (deserting the war defeated) and sailed to the nearby island of Tenedos to hide. In doing so, they left behind a large wooden horse with a raiding party of armed warriors cleverly concealed inside, and Sinon a Greek who feigned desertion and convinced the Trojans that the horse was an offering to Athena that would make Troy impregnable.
Despite the warnings from Laocoon and Cassandra (qq.v.), the trojan horse was taken inside the city gates by the Trojans, who did not realize that Greek army soldiers were hidden inside. That night, while the Trojans celebrated their victory, the Greeks snuck out of the belly of the wooden horse, opened the gates to their comrades (who had returned from Tenedos undiscovered), and succeeded in conquering Troy.
This version of the story was recorded centuries later; the extent to which it reflects actual historical events is not known. It is told at length in Book II of the Aeneid and is touched upon in the Odyssey.
The moral of the story? You never know what lies hidden in a trojan horse. But, we promise you this -- you'll only find wonderful surprises hidden inside the Trojan Horse Antiques & Collectibles website. Visit our Online Shop today and discover hundreds of unique treasures!
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