About a great and bloody war and how thirty soldiers decided the outcome of the battle that happened in 1193 BC. we learned through Homer's Iliad. This is a story about the naivete of the defenders and the cunning of the attackers.
The Myth of Three
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 couple in love sailed to Troy. The offended Menelaus, together with his brother Agamemnon, gathered a huge army and hurried after the fugitives.
A bloody war between the Spartans and the Trojans lasted for ten years. Great warriors came together in battle, their names have gone down in history forever - Ahchiles, Hector, Patroclus, etc.
The strong walls of the city were inaccessible to the Greeks. Then Odysseus, the 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 do you get the Trojans to drag the statue through the city's impregnable walls? And this was foreseen by the cunning Greek.
Fall of Troy
In the morning, the Trojans found a huge statue of a horse near the city walls with an inscription stating that this horse was built in honor of the goddess Athena and that while it stood, the Greeks would not attack the Trojans. The Greeks themselves rented their camp and sent the ships home. Odyssey's cousin Sinon, who allegedly went over to their side, was able to convince the Trojans of this. Nevertheless, the disputes around the horse did not subside, Cassandra said that there were warriors in the statue of the horse, but they did not believe her. Priest Laoocon threw a spear at the statue, exclaiming "Fear the Danes who bring gifts." However, later, according to legend, he and his two sons were strangled by sea snakes, which became a sign of the Trojans to drag the statue into the city.
The inhabitants of the city threw a feast in honor of the end of the war, and the numerous guards also succumbed to the holiday. Therefore, the Greeks who got out of the statue were able to freely open the gates of the city and let in the army of their compatriots. Elena was returned to her husband, and the city was burned to the ground.
Was there a horse?
Historians argue about the existence of the Trojan horse and the location of Troy to this day.
In his book Description of Greece, the Roman scientist 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, beaten by the Trojans from the Greeks. The Trojans took him to the city, so that the Greeks would not destroy the walls of the city, but the townspeople in the confusion did not notice the hiding soldiers.
There is also another version. At that distant time, it was said about the rowers in the hold of the ship that it was hard for them, like in the belly of a horse. It is possible that Homer called the ship in which the warriors of Odysseus were hiding "horse".
According to Homer's descriptions, the Trojan Horse was about 3 meters wide and 7.6 meters high. Built according to the description these days, the model weighed about 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 that the soldiers hiding in the horse would have had a very hard time.
In 2011, National Geographic made a film about scientists' guesses, new studies in the study of the Trojan War, in which historians and archaeologists will try to figure out where Troy was? Was there a Trojan Horse? And finally, did Beautiful Elena exist?
Film about Three National Geographic Channel
Troy at the cinema
There are many plays about the Trojan War. The most recent adaptation is Troy, a 2004 film directed by American director Wolfang Petersen. The heroes of the Iliad will once again face off in mortal combat, and ancient events will sparkle with new colors. But the fact that this adaptation is the last does not mean that the rest are much worse. For example, in the movie “Helen of Troy”, the scene with the horse is also very impressive.
Scene of the film "Helen of Troyan" (video)
Regardless of whether it is true or fiction in Homer's Iliad, the poem is beautiful and instructive. She has provided food for filmmakers around the world and food for thought for many military strategists. So, during the Second World War, Soviet soldiers repeatedly used similar tactics.
Mythological ideas existed at certain stages of development in almost all peoples of the world. If Europeans before the Age of Great Geographical Discoveries were familiar only with ancient myths, then gradually they learned about the presence of mythology among the inhabitants of Africa, America, Oceania, Australia. The Bible traces echoes of the mythological era among the Semitic peoples. Before the adoption of Islam, the Arabs had their own mythology. Thus, we are talking about the immanence of mythology to human consciousness. The time of the origin of mythological images defies definition, their formation is inextricably linked with the origin of language and consciousness. The main task of the myth is to set patterns, models for every important action performed by a person; the myth serves to ritualize everyday life, enabling a person to find meaning in life.
According to supporters of the theory of paleocontacts, myths are history, real events. A modern example of this meaning of the word "myth" is the "cult of cargo". Therefore, they offer religion and science a new look at mythology. As examples, they cite descriptions of strange phenomena, for example, from the Bible, and give them new explanations, using modern knowledge of science and terminology.
Trojan horse myth
The war between the Trojans and the Danaans began because the Trojan prince Paris stole the beautiful Greek woman Helen from the city of Sparta. Her husband, the king of Sparta Menelaus, with his brother Agamemnon gathered an army of Greeks and went to Troy.
During the war with Troy, the Achaeans, after a long and unsuccessful siege, resorted to tricks: they built a huge wooden horse, left it at the walls of Troy, and themselves pretended to sail away from the coast of the Troas (the invention of this trick is attributed to Odysseus, the most cunning of the leaders of the Danaans , and the horse was made by Epey). The horse was an offering to the goddess Athena of Ilion. On the side of the horse was written "This gift is brought to Athena the Warrior by the departing Danaans." To build a horse, the Hellenes cut down the dogwood trees that grew in the sacred grove of Apollo ( cranes), sacrificed Apollo and gave him the name Carney (or the horse was made of maple).
The priest Laocoont, seeing this horse and knowing the tricks of the Danaans, exclaimed: "Whatever it is, I am afraid of the Danaans, even those who bring gifts!" (Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes!). But the Trojans, not listening to the warnings of Laocoont and the prophetess of Cassandra, dragged the horse into the city. Virgil's hemistich "I am afraid of the Danaans, even those who bring gifts", often quoted in Latin ("Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes"), has become a proverb. Hence the expression “ Trojan horse», Used in the sense: secret, insidious plan.
At night, the Greeks, hiding inside the horse, got out of it, killed the guards, opened the city gates, let in the comrades who returned on the ships, and thus took possession of Troy.
Mythological consciousness
For the mythological consciousness, everything that exists is animate. Mythological space is the space of the soul.
Mythological consciousness is characterized by opposition to rationality, immediacy, non-reflective perception of the world, which, on the one hand, makes the myth vulnerable to rational criticism, on the other hand, it takes it out of such space (hence the stability of mythological ideas and the difficulty of dealing with them; for rational persuasion, a person must already admit that the mythological explanation of what is happening is not the only possible and may turn out to be unreliable). Mythologemes are stable over time and give different manifestations in different cultural and social conditions. The myth is opposed by both scientific rationality and theological rationality inherent in theistic religions. Therefore, myth and religion cannot be equated, although, for example, some forms of religiosity (the so-called "folk religiosity") from the sphere of the theologically reflected religion pass into the area of mythology and the secondary mythological interpretation of dogmas, rituals, and other religious practices.
From this follows the relevance of mythological consciousness for any cultural epoch, only the degree of its social prestige and the scope of its wide distribution change. The constant area of realization of mythological consciousness is everyday life, where the existence of old and the generation of new myths is constant and intense. This mythology is expressed in modern forelklore (urban folklore associated with urban mythology, pseudo-religious folklore reflecting the mythological interpretation of religion, professional folklore associated with professional mythology, etc.). Everyday mythology exists according to very old mythological principles, for example, a mixture of causal and spatio-temporal contiguity (from here comes a lot of superstitious practices-signs, "happy", "unhappy", etc.). Fears, including mass ones, are also caused not by a rational analysis of their possible causes, but by a mythological understanding of what is happening and the actualization of mythologemes (for example, the mythologeme of a catastrophe). The mythological consciousness should be ascribed to the obligatory search by the inhabitant of who is personally responsible for something that happens, as well as the exaggeration of the role of participation in events that have the character of systemic dynamics, of any person. Here, a purely mythological attitude is manifested to animate and personify the environment.
20 February 2014Phraseologisms play an important role in modern language, since they allow you to convey the meaning of a sentence in a more vivid metaphorical language. For example, many have heard such a phrase as a Trojan horse. The meaning of the phraseological unit is not clear to everyone, since the origins of its meaning lie in the myth.
Historical roots of the modern language
As you know, most of the aphorisms have historical roots. Something is connected with mythology, something with history, but in any case, it is simply necessary to know your roots and the roots of your language. This allows you to see the modern language through the past, due to which it is enriched. So, the expression "Trojan horse" came to us from the era of the Trojan War.
Troy: the reasons for the strife between the Trojans and the Greeks
The history of the Trojan horse is full of mysteries, and to understand it, you need to tell a little about the city of Troy itself. Folk legend says that the future war for the city broke out from the conflict between Paris and Menelaus over the beautiful Helen, who was the latter's wife. According to legend, Paris seduced her, and she decided to sail away with him. Menelaus regarded such an act as a kidnapping and decided that this was a sufficient reason to declare war. However, Troy was well and reliably fortified, so the Greeks could not capture the city for a long time. However, they limited themselves to devastating the surroundings and undertaking campaigns on nearby cities. According to legend, the Greeks wanted to take possession of Troy, but they could not cope with physical forces. Then Odysseus comes up with an interesting idea: he proposed to build a huge wooden horse.
Odyssey's Cunning
Legend has it that the Trojans watched with great amazement as the Greeks erected a wooden horse. The Greeks, on the other hand, made up a story that a Trojan horse they had created would be able to defend the city from Greek raids. That is why today the popular expression "Trojan horse" means a gift, a gift that was presented for the purpose of deception. But the Trojans believed this story and even wanted to bring the horse into the city. But there were also opponents of this decision, who called for throwing the structure into the water or burning it. However, soon a priest appeared in the city, who said that the Greeks created a horse in honor of the goddess Athena in order to atone for the sin of many years of bloodshed. Allegedly, after this, two snakes crawled out of the sea, which strangled the priest and his sons. The Trojans considered that all these events were omens from above, and decided to roll the horse into the city.
The beginning of the fall of Troy
According to archaeological and historical evidence, there was actually a Trojan horse. The meaning of the phraseological unit, however, cannot be understood without pondering the essence of the legend. So, the horse was brought into the city. And on the night after this hasty decision, Sinon released the hiding soldiers from the horse cavity, who quickly interrupted the sleeping guards and opened the city gates. The people, who slept soundly after the festivities, did not even offer resistance. Several Trojans broke into the palace to rescue the king. But the giant Neoptolemus was still able to break the front door with an ax and killed King Priam. Thus ended the great history of the great Troy.
Until now, it has not been determined how many soldiers were in the Trojan horse. Some sources say that 50 people were hiding there, others talk about 20-23 soldiers. But this does not change the essence: the well-thought-out design in the shape of a horse simply did not raise any doubts among the Trojans, which was the reason for their death. It is now generally accepted that the myth of the Trojan horse is an allegory of military cunning, which was once used by the Achaeans.
Symbols and allegories
It is noteworthy that the horse as a creature has been a symbol of birth and death since ancient times. So, the Achaeans created their horse from spruce branches, while the cavity of the structure remained empty. Many researchers agree that this is a symbol of the birth of a new one. That is, it turned out that the Trojan horse brought death to the defenders of the city and at the same time became a symbol of the birth of something new for many peoples.
By the way, around the same time, events that are very important for history take place in the Mediterranean. The great migration of peoples began when various tribes - Dorians, barbarians - moved from the northern countries to the Balkans. This is what led to the destruction of the ancient Mycenaean civilization. Greece will be able to revive after several centuries, while the destruction that fell on this state was so large-scale that the entire Dodorian history simply remained in legends.
What does Trojan horse mean?
Today very often we use such phraseological unit as "Trojan horse". This catchphrase has long become a household word. So we call some gifts that are presented with the aim of deceiving or ruining. Many researchers have wondered why it was the horse that caused the collapse of Troy. But one thing can be noted: the Achaeans knew how to interest the Trojans. They understood that in order to lift the siege from the city, you need to surprise the local residents with something special, so that they trust and open the gates.
Of course, the presentation of the Trojan horse as a gift from the gods played a decisive role, since in those days it was considered an insult to the deity to neglect the sacred gift. And, as you know, joking with angry gods is very, very dangerous. And so it happened that a competent inscription on a wooden statue (recall, on the side of the horse it was written that it was a gift from the goddess Athena) led to the fact that the Trojans had to take this dubious gift to their city.
Property of Troy
So, the Trojan horse (we have already described the meaning of the phraseological unit) became the main reason for the collapse of the Trojan Kingdom. It is known from history that Troy was famous for its horses, traders from all over the world came to this city, and it was this city that was most often raided. For example, one legend says that the Trojan king Dardanus owned a herd of magnificent horses, which descended from the god of the north wind Boreas. And in general, the horse has always been considered the closest animal to man: it was taken to war, it was used in agricultural work. Therefore, the appearance of horses in front of the city gates of Troy was appreciated by the locals as a gift from the gods. Thus, without knowing who the Trojan horse is, the meaning of the phraseological unit is not so easy to understand.
And therefore it is not at all accidental that Troy, which held the defense for 10 years, fell precisely through the fault of the horse. Of course, all the fault and cunning of the Achaeans, who were able to find a weak spot and chose for this a kind of magical carrier in the person of a wooden horse. It is noteworthy that according to archaeological data, Troy was just a small fortress. But at the same time, in order to capture it, whole armies of hundreds of ships were sent.
Modern interpretation
Today, this concept figuratively also refers to malware that people themselves spread. Moreover, the virus got its name in honor of the mythological Trojan horse, since most virus programs act in a similar way: they disguise themselves as harmless and even useful programs and applications that the user runs on his computer. For all the simplicity of a virus, its complexity lies in the fact that it is difficult to recognize its purpose in it. For example, the most primitive modifications can completely erase the contents of the disk at boot, and some programs are able to be embedded in certain applications on the PC.
Even after long battles, the Greeks could not capture the city in any way. Then Odysseus decided to act with cunning. He advised the Greeks to build such a huge wooden horse so 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 only in this way can Troy be taken. Prophetic Calhant, to whom Zeus sent a sign, also urged the Greeks to resort to cunning.
The famous artist Epeus and his apprentice, with the help of the goddess Athena, built a huge wooden horse. It included armed soldiers. Aeneas so tightly closed the hole through which the heroes entered, that it was impossible even to think that there was someone in the horse. Then the Greeks burned all the buildings in their camp, boarded a ship and sailed into the open sea.
From the high walls of Troy, the besieged saw an extraordinary movement in the camp of the Greeks. Suddenly they noticed that thick clouds of smoke were rising from the camp of the Greeks. Triumphantly, the Trojans left the city and went to the camp, which was really abandoned, in some places still buildings were burning down. They were sure that the siege was finally over, all troubles were over, and now they could indulge in peaceful labor.
Suddenly, the Trojans stopped in amazement when they saw a wooden horse. They looked at it and wondered what kind of amazing structure it was. Some of them advised to throw the horse into the sea, others - to take it to the city and put it on the acropolis. An argument began. Then the priest of the god Apollo, Laocoon, appeared before the disputants. He ardently began to persuade 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 left Troy forever. Begged the Trojans to beware of the horse. Laocoon grabbed a huge spear and threw it at the horse. The statue shuddered from the blow, and the weapon sounded dully inside it. But the gods darkened the mind of the Trojans - they nevertheless decided to take the horse to the city.
Suddenly a loud cry was heard. It was the shepherds who were leading the bound prisoner who voluntarily surrendered. This prisoner was the Greek Sinon. Trojans surrounded him and began to mock him. Sinon stood silently, fearfully looking at the enemies around him. Finally, he spoke. Bitterly lamented, shedding tears, on his evil fate. Were moved by the tears of Sinon Priam and all the Trojans. They began to ask the detainee who he was and why he had stayed. Then Sinon told a fictional story that Odysseus had invented for him to trick the Trojans.
The Trojans believed the cunning Greek. Priam ordered to release him and asked what this wooden horse, left by the Greeks in the camp, meant. This was the only question Sinon was waiting for. Summoning the gods to witness that he was telling the truth, Sinon said that the horse was abandoned to appease the formidable Athena. The Trojans believed Sinon. Deftly he played the role that Odysseus had entrusted to him.
The Trojans were even more convinced that Sinon was telling the truth, the terrible snakes sent by Athena. They swam quickly to the shore, meandering in the waves. The creatures crawled ashore and all the Trojans scattered in horror. The snakes rushed at the two sons of Laocoon and wound around them. He hurried to the aid of the sons of Laocoon, but he was also wrapped in snakes. With their sharp teeth they gnawed at the bodies of the priest and his two sons. He tried to pluck the unfortunate serpent from himself and free his children, but in vain. The poison penetrated deeper and deeper into the body.
The suffering of Laocoon and his sons was terrible. Laocoon died, seeing the terrible death of his innocent children, died because he wanted, against the will of God, to save his homeland. The snakes, having done 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 should bring the wooden horse to Troy. They dismantled part of the city wall, since the huge statue could not be carried through the gate. The horse stopped four times, hitting the wall, when they dragged him through the gap, and the weapons of the Greeks thundered in him menacingly from the jolts, but the townspeople did not hear this. Finally, they brought the horse to the acropolis.
Prophetic Cassandra was horrified when she saw the horse. She foreshadowed the death of Troy, but the Trojans answered with laughter - her predictions were never believed.
In deep silence the soldiers sat in the horse, sensitively listening to every sound coming from outside. They heard how beautiful-haired Elena called them, calling them by name, imitating the voice of their wives. Forced to restrain one of the heroes Odysseus, clamping his mouth so that he would not answer.
Night has come. Troy fell into a deep sleep. At the wooden statue, Sinon's voice was heard - he let the heroes know that now they can go out. Sinon also managed to build a large fire at the gates of Troy. It was a sign to the Greeks who had taken refuge behind Tenedos to hurry to the city. Cautiously, trying not to make noise with their weapons, the heroes got out of the horse; the first were Odysseus with Aeneas. The heroes scattered along the sleepy streets of Troy. Houses were on fire, 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 in whatever way they could.
In anger, he would have killed Menelaus and the beautiful Helen, but Agamemnon restrained him. The goddess Aphrodite again awakened love for Helen in Menelaus's chest, and he solemnly led her to his ship.
Of all the heroes of Troy, only Aeneas escaped, carrying his old father Ankhiz and his little son Askania 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 Elena and the treasures of Menelaus stolen by Paris.
Troy was still burning for a long time. Puffs of smoke rose high into the sky. The gods mourned the death of the great city. This enormous funeral pyre could be seen in the distance. Pala Troy is the most powerful city in Asia. The Achaeans won, but at what cost!
Formidable hordes of voivode, Agamemnon, king of kings
I looked out over the crowds of the people who survived from the prey -
And he bowed his head,
We are obsessed with a sad thought -
Many of them came near Troy,
Few of them will return with him ...
Homer, The Iliad.
The Trojan War did not bring success to either side. It turned into a tragedy, but generated not by chance, but by the inscrutable paths of fate. The fate of Troy, the Trojans, the Achaean heroes was foretold and unforgiving. For most of its participants, the Trojan War brought death or shame, exile.
| |
Greek mythology and history have given the world a huge number of quotes and wise examples. The Trojan horse is one of the main symbols and lessons of the history of this state. He is so popular that he was named after one of the most dangerous, penetrating the system under the guise of a harmless program.
What does Trojan horse mean?
The legend about what the Trojan horse means, tells about the cunning of enemies and the naive trust of their victims. One of several authors who described it was the ancient Roman poet Virgil, who created the "Aeneid" about the wanderings of Aeneas from Troy. He called this a cunning military structure a horse, which allowed a small handful of people to defeat the brave and clever warriors. In the Aeneid, the story of the Trojan horse is described in several ways:
- The Trojan prince Paris himself provoked the enemy to take decisive action by stealing his wife, the beautiful Elena, from the king of the Danes.
- The Danais were angered by the military defense of their opponents, which they could not cope with, no matter what tricks they resorted to.
- Tsar Menelaus had to receive a blessing for the creation of a horse from the god Apollo, bringing him bloody sacrifices.
- For the attack with the participation of a horse, the best warriors were selected who were included in the books of historians and are ready to give their lives for their country.
- The men had to wait patiently in the statue for several days so as not to arouse suspicion among the workers who were dismantling the wall for the horse to pass.
Trojan horse - myth or reality?
Some historians say that the wooden structure is absolutely real. These include Homer, the author of the Iliad and The Odyssey. Modern scholars disagree with him and Virgil: they believe that the reason for the war could have been trade disputes between the two states. The myth about the Trojan horse was considered an absolute fiction, coinciding with the artistic fantasy of two ancient Greeks, until the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in the 19th century received permission to excavate under Mount Hisarlik, then belonging to the Ottoman Empire. Henry's research yielded startling results:
- In ancient times, there were eight cities on the territory of Homeric Troy, replacing each other after conquests, diseases and wars.
- The remains of the structures of Troy itself were found under a layer of seven later settlements;
- Among them, they found the Skeian Gate, into which a Trojan horse entered, the throne of King Priam and his palace, as well as the Tower of Helena.
- Homer's words that the tsars in Troy lived a little better than ordinary peasants because of the laws of equality were confirmed.
Trojan horse myth
Archaeologists who do not support Schliemann's point of view consider the very cause of the war a myth. After the theft of Elena, her husband Agamemnon decided to punish Paris. Combining his army with the army of his brother, he went to Troy and laid siege to her. After many months, Agamemnon realized that she was unapproachable. The city, which became a victim of a Trojan horse, was taken by deception: having installed an allegedly donated wooden statue in front of the gate, the Achaeans boarded boats and pretended to float away from Troy. “Fear the Danians, who bring gifts!” Cried the priest of the city of Lakoont at the sight of the horse, but no one attached importance to his words.
What did the Trojan horse look like?
To make the inhabitants of Troy believe in the good intentions of the donors, it was not enough just to make the figure of an animal out of planks. The wooden Trojan horse was preceded by the official visit by the ambassadors of Agamemnon to the palace of Troy, during which they said that they wanted to atone for their sins and realized that the city was guarded by the goddess Athena. The condition for achieving peace on their part was a request to accept the gift: they promised that as long as the Trojan horse was in Troy, no one would dare to attack it. The appearance of the statue can be described as follows:
- The height of the structure is about 8 meters, and the width is about 3.
- It took at least 50 people to roll it over logs oiled to facilitate movement.
- The material for the construction was dogwood trees from the sacred grove of Apollo.
- On the right side of the horse there was an inscription “This gift was left by the Danaans leaving with defeat”.
Who Invented the Trojan Horse?
The very concept of the "Trojan horse" as a military method came to mind to the hero of the Iliad, Odysseus. The most cunning of all the leaders of the Danaans, he never obeyed Agamemnon, but was respected by him for his numerous victories. The drawing of a horse with a hollow belly, which could easily accommodate warriors, Odysseus developed for three days. Later he passed it on to the one who built the Trojan horse - the fist warrior and builder Epeus.