Once upon a time, a long time
ago, there was an ancient city named Troy. Troy was located on the
coast of Asia, across the sea from the Greek city-state of Sparta.
In those days, people used to
build walls around their city to help protect them. Some walls were
only a few feet high. Others as much as twenty feet high!
The people
built gates in the wall. The gates could be opened to let people
inside the city. In times of war, the gates could be closed and locked
to stop intruders from getting inside.
Along the wall, inside of the
city, a set of stairs wound up to the top. Warriors could stand at the
top of the stairs and shoot arrows down at intruders who were trying
to get inside the city. There were also holes built high on the wall.
Archers could shoot arrows though the holes as well. If the wall was
high enough and strong enough, it could do a pretty good job keeping
intruders from coming inside.
The walls around Troy were
very high and very strong. According to the legend of Trojan Horse,
for ten long years, the Greeks had been trying to get over the wall
around the city of Troy. But the Greeks could not get over the wall.
And the Trojans could not drive the Greeks away. Year after year they
fought. And year after year, neither side won.
One day, a Greek general,
Odysseus, had
a tricky idea. "Let's pretend to sail away," he suggested.
"We'll leave a gift for Troy, a gift to announce the end of the
war, a wooden horse with 30 men hidden inside. At night, these men can
sneak out and open the gate of Troy!"
The Greeks thought it was a
brilliant idea. They had their best artists build the horse. It was a
magnificent horse. When it was ready, the Greeks brought the huge
wooden horse. They placed it by the gates of Troy. The Greeks sailed
away.
When the archers at the top
of the stairs saw the Greeks leaving, they could not believe their
eyes. The Trojans thought they had won the war. They laughed when they
saw the horse. They loved it actually. The Greeks were famous for
their art. The Trojans were delighted with their gift. They dragged
the horse inside their city and closed the gates. Then they began to
celebrate.
That night, while the Trojan
people slept soundly, the 30 Greek men hidden inside the wooden horse
climbed out and opened the gates of Troy. That was the end of Troy.
