But still the Greeks could not take possession of the city. Then Odysseus convinced the Greeks to act by cunning. He advised building such a huge wooden horse that the mightiest heroes of the Greeks could hide in it. All the remaining troops had to sail from the shore of Troad and take refuge behind the island of Tenedos. When the Trojans bring the horse into the city, then the heroes will come out at night and open the gates of the city to the Greeks who have returned secretly. Odysseus assured that this was the only way to take Troy.
The prophetic Calchas, to whom a sign was sent by Zeus, also convinced the Greeks to resort to cunning. Finally, the Greeks agreed to Odysseus's proposal. The famous artist Aeneas and his student, with the help of the goddess Pallas Athena, built a huge wooden horse. It included Neoptolemus, Philoctetes, Menelaus, Idomeneo, Diomedes, the younger Ajax, Merion, Odysseus and several other heroes. The entire inside of the horse was filled with armed warriors. Aeneas closed the hole through which the heroes entered so tightly that one could not even think that there were warriors 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 an extraordinary movement in the Greek camp. For a long time they could not understand what was happening there. Suddenly, to their great joy, they saw thick clouds of smoke rising from the Greek camp. They realized that the Greeks had left Troas. Rejoicing, the Trojans left the city and went to the camp. The camp was indeed abandoned, and in some places buildings were still burning down. The Trojans wandered with curiosity through the places where the tents of Diomedes, Achilles, Agamemnon, Menelaus and other heroes had recently stood. They were sure that the siege was now over, all disasters had passed, and they could now indulge in peaceful labor.
Suddenly the Trojans stopped in amazement: 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, while others advised 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 Greek heroes were hidden in the horse, that this was some kind of military trick invented by Odysseus. Laocoon did not believe that the Greeks had abandoned Troas forever. Laocoon begged the Trojans not to trust the horse. Whatever it was, Laocoon was afraid of the Greeks, even if they brought gifts to Troy. Laocoon grabbed a huge spear and threw it at his horse. The horse shuddered from the blow, and his weapon sounded dully inside. But the gods darkened the minds of the Trojans - they still decided to take the horse to the city. The dictates of fate had to be fulfilled.
As the Trojans stood around the horse, continuing to move towards it, a loud cry was suddenly heard. It was the shepherds who were leading the bound captive. He voluntarily surrendered into their hands. This captive was the Greek Sinon. The Trojans surrounded him and began to mock him. Sinon stood silently, fearfully looking at the Trojans 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 him who he was and why he stayed. Then Sinon told them a fictitious story that Odysseus had invented for him in order to deceive the Trojans. Sinon told how Odysseus planned to destroy him, since Sinon was a relative of that Palamedes, whom the king of Ithaca hated so much. Therefore, when the Greeks decided to end the siege, Odysseus persuaded Calchas to inform him that the gods were demanding a human sacrifice for a happy return to their homeland. Calchas feigned hesitation for a long time about whom to point to as a sacrifice to the gods, and finally pointed to Sinon. The Greeks tied up Sinon and took him to the altar. But Sinon broke the ropes and escaped from certain death by flight. Sinon hid for a long time in the dense thickets of reeds, waiting for the Greeks to sail to their homeland. When they sailed, he came out of his hiding place and voluntarily surrendered into the hands of the shepherds. 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 by the Greeks to appease the formidable Pallas Athena, who was angry about the theft of palladium from Troy. This horse, according to Sinon, will be a powerful defense of Troy if the Trojans bring it into the city. The Trojans believed Sinon in this too. He deftly played the role that Odysseus entrusted to him.
The Trojans were even more convinced that Sinon was telling the truth by a great miracle sent by Pallas Athena. Two monstrous snakes appeared on the sea. They quickly swam to the shore, twisting the countless rings of their bodies on the waves of the sea. The crests on their heads, red as blood, rose high. Their eyes sparkled with fire. Snakes crawled onto the shore near the place where Laocoon sacrificed to the god of the sea Poseidon. 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 Laocoon and his two sons. The unfortunate snake tries to tear off himself and free his children from them, but in vain. The poison penetrates deeper into the body. Members cramp. The suffering of Laocoon and his sons is terrible. Laocoon cried out loudly, feeling the approach of death. This is how Laocoon died, seeing the terrible death of his innocent sons, he died because he wanted, contrary to the will of God, to save his homeland. The snakes, having completed their terrible deed, crawled away and hid under the shield of the statue of Pallas Athena.
The death of Laocoon further convinced the Trojans that they should bring the wooden horse into the city. They dismantled part of the city wall, since the huge horse could not be carried through the gates, and with rejoicing, accompanied by music and singing, they dragged the horse with ropes into the city. 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 Trojans did not hear this. Finally, they dragged the horse to the acropolis.
The prophetic Cassandra was horrified when she saw a horse in the acropolis. She foreshadowed the death of Troy, but the Trojans answered her with laughter - after all, they never believed her predictions.
The heroes sat on the horse 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. The heroes heard the rejoicing of the Trojans and the noise of merry feasts that were celebrated throughout Troy on the occasion of the end of the siege. Finally, night came. Everything fell silent, Troy fell into a deep sleep. Sinon's voice was heard from the wooden horse - he let the heroes know that they could now go out.
Sinon had already 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 Troy. Carefully, trying not to make any noise with their weapons, the heroes dismounted; Odysseus and Epeus were the first to leave. The heroes scattered along the sleepy streets of Troy. The houses began to burn, illuminating the dying Troy with a bloody glow. The rest of the Greeks also came to the aid of the heroes. They broke into Troy through the breach. A terrible battle began. The Trojans defended themselves with whatever they could. They threw burning logs, tables, and utensils at the Greeks, and fought with spits on which they had just roasted meat for the feast. The Greeks spared no one. Women and children ran screaming through the streets of Troy. Finally, the Greeks approached Priam's palace, protected by a wall with towers. The Trojans defended themselves with the courage of despair. They overturned an entire tower on the Greeks. The Greeks launched an attack with even greater ferocity. Achilles' son Neoptolemus knocked down the gates of the palace with an ax and was the first to break into it. Behind him, other heroes and warriors burst into the palace. Priam's palace was filled with the cries of women and children. The daughters and daughters-in-law of Priam gathered at the altars of the gods, they thought to find protection here. Priam in armor wanted to protect them or fall in battle, but Hekabe begged the elderly king to seek protection at the altar. How could he, a weak old man, fight with mighty heroes!
Suddenly Neoptolemus burst in; he pursued Priam's mortally wounded son, Polite. With a blow from his spear, Neoptolemus threw Polite to the ground at his father’s feet. Priam threw a spear at Neoptolemus, but it, like a weak cane, bounced off the armor of the son of Achilles. In anger, Neoptolemus grabbed Priam by the gray hair and plunged his sharp sword into his chest. Priam died in the city in which he lived for so many years, ruling the great Troy. None of the sons of Priam escaped. Even his grandson, Hector’s son Astyanax, was killed: he was thrown from the high walls of Troy, snatched from the hands of the unfortunate Andromache. Menelaus killed the sleeping Deiphobus in the palace, whose wife Helen became after the death of Paris. In anger, Menelaus would have killed the beautiful Helen, but Agamemnon stopped him. The goddess Aphrodite again awakened love for Helen in the chest of Menelaus. He triumphantly led her to his ship.
The daughter of Priam, prophesied by Cassandra, sought salvation in the sanctuary of Pallas Athena. Oilea's son, Ajax, found her there. Cassandra fell to the statue of Athena, hugging the image of the goddess with her hands. Ajax grabbed her roughly and pulled away from the statue with such force that the sacred statue fell to the floor of the temple and broke. The Greeks were angry with Ajax, and the great goddess was also angry. Subsequently, she cruelly took revenge on Ajax for this.
Of all the heroes of Troy, only Aeneas was saved, carrying his old father Anchises and his little son Ascanius out of Troy in his arms. The Greeks also spared the Trojan hero Antenor. The Greeks spared him because he always advised the Trojans to hand over the beautiful-haired Helen and the treasures of Menelaus stolen by Paris to the Greeks.
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. The fire of Troy was visible in the distance. By the columns of smoke and the enormous glow at night, the surrounding peoples learned that Troy, which had long been the most powerful city in Asia, had fallen.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru