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Trojan Horse facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
For the computer virus, see Trojan horse (computing).

The Trojan Horse is a large wooden horse from the Trojan War in Greek mythology. In the Trojan War, the Greeks were fighting against the city of Troy. The war started when Helen, the queen of Sparta, was kidnapped by Paris, prince of Troy. The Greeks waged war on Troy to win Helen of Troy back.

The Greeks could not enter the city or win the war. Because of this, Odysseus, one of the Grecian leaders, thought of a way to trick the Trojans. The Greeks built a large wooden horse out of a ship and left it outside the gates of the city as a present for the Trojans, then sailed away. The Greek ships hid behind a nearby land mass. The Trojans took the horse and put it inside their city, thinking it was a victory gift from the Greeks. The Trojans had a festival to celebrate their victory. Odysseus chose a horse so that Athena (goddess of wisdom and strength) would grant them good luck after the battle. After the Trojan victory festival ended, the Greeks, who were hiding inside the horse, came out. They opened the city gates to let the other Greeks enter Troy. The Greeks easily overpowered the unsuspecting Trojans and took control of the city. Because of the Trojan Horse, the Greeks won the Trojan War.

Trojan horse in Troja, Prague 2717
Trojan Horse in Troja

Today the word "Trojan horse" is used for things that are similar to that story: something that looks good, but in truth has another purpose, usually bad. An example for this is a type of computer virus called a Trojan horse.

Images for kids

  • Replica of Trojan Horse - Canakkale Waterfront - Dardanelles - Turkey (5747677790)

    The Trojan horse that appeared in the 2004 film Troy, now on display in Çanakkale, Turkey.

  • The Procession of the Trojan Horse in Troy by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo

    Detail from The Procession of the Trojan Horse in Troy by Domenico Tiepolo (1773), inspired by Virgil's Aeneid

  • RomanVirgilFolio101r

    Sinon is brought to Priam, from folio 101r of the Roman Vergil

  • Hippos 2

    The Phoenician ship called hippos, from the Assyrian city of Khorsabad, 8th century BC

  • Catalogue of the bronzes, Greek, Roman, and Etruscan, in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum (1899) (14780940341)

    The earliest known depiction of the Trojan Horse, on a bronze fibula (ca. 700 BC), note the wheels and the square openings on the horse's side

  • Mykonos vase

    The Mykonos vase (750 to 650 BC), with one of the earliest known renditions of the Trojan Horse, (note the depiction of the faces of hidden warriors shown on the horse's side)

  • Trojan horse on corintian aryballos

    Depiction of the Trojan Horse on a Corinthian aryballos (ca. 560 BC) found in Cerveteri (Italy)

  • Antikensammlung Berlin 405

    Warriors leaving the Trojan Horse, fragment of an attic black-figure krater from Orbetello (Italy), ca. 540 BC

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Caballo de Troya para niños

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