A contemporary view on the Horse

Reading the previous post, about why the Trojans have committed the folly of opening their gates to let in a hollow horse, you may be inclined to think this is hindsight, or as the Americans put, Monday morning quarterbacking. It is easy to play a hand at bridge, after the game is over. It would be wrong, not to say ungentlemanly, to judge others' choices by the facts we know now. It is folly only when there were alternatives, visible and viable at that time.

Virgil gives Laocoon the line: Equo ne credite, Teucri / Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes, or "Do not trust the Horse, Trojans; Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even bearing gifts." Laocoon was a priest of Apollo (or maybe Poseidon). He is said to have thrust a spear into the Horse, and the onlookers heard moans from within. Capys, another elder, also pointed out that the Horse is dedicated to Athena, who favoured the Greeks. Why not break it open to see what was within?

Laocoon had earlier said, upon seeing the Horse,

Either the Greeks are hiding in the monster, Or it is some trick of war, a spy or engine, To come down on the city. Tricky business is hiding in it. Do not trust it, Trojans; Do not believe this horse. ...

So it is not that the thought had not crossed anyone's mind.

The lintel over the gate to the city was named the Scæan Gate, and its destruction was one of the three (or six) requirements for the fall of Troy. And yet, as the Horse was too tall, this, too, was taken down.

Why would a people deliberately pursue an act that had clear negative consequences?

The Greek and Roman poets of the centuries after Troy accepted the story as true, and worked to resolve this question. The answers ranged from the enmity of the gods, to "this was foretold and must happen". Even they marveled at the stupidity, or blindness, of the Trojans.

I shall continue later on their on how the philosophers of antiquity drew lessons from this incident.

At the start of this post is a picture of a statue, found in Rome in in 1506, believed to be of c200BC, based on an earlier copy. It shows Laocoon and his sons being attacked by serpents sent by the gods, because they tried to prevent the Horse from being pulled into the city.