1-156-324 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

'Trojans Deceived', 1830. The raiding party secreting themselves in the great wooden horse. The story of the legendary wars between the Greek confederation and Troy, part of which is the subject of Homer's epic poem the Iliad where it is said to have lasted ten years, has some historical basis. Virgil, in his epic poem the Aeneid, writes of the end of the siege of Troy and tells of the huge wooden horse which Ulysses had built. It was left outside the walls of Troy and the Trojans were convinced it was a Greek offering to the gods for their safe voyage back to Greece. Instead, it was full of Greek warriors who, when the horse was dragged into Troy, waited until night, climbed down and opened the gates of the city and let in the Greek army. From The World Displayed by the Rev Royal Robbins. (New York, 1830).