WHAT WAS THE TROJNA WAR?
In the middle of the 13th century a. C., Troy, flourishing city of Asia Minor, in present Turkey, was ravaged by a coalition of people from Greece. The Trojan War is a fundamental mythical episode that confronted for the first time to Europe and Asia. For the Greeks, it meant the first time aware of its unity as a people, despite their political disintegration.
The Trojan war lasted nearly 10 years. It says in the first chapter of the Iliad that the war was already 9 years old and that many of the ships had problems from rotten ropes and wood and the like.
The war starts because Paris, a Trojan prince, "steals" Helen (they feel in love) and whisks her back to Troy. Her husband is a real tough character and is the King of Sparta. Worse yet, his brother is even tougher character and is the King of Mycenae (the richest city) and also the head of all the Greek city states when it came to matters of war. Agamemnon (the brother) and Menelaus convince and bully all the Greek city states into joining with them for the war. A thousand ships are sent.

Despite the extreme force, the Trojans are doing very well at holding the Greeks off. Hector, another Trojan prince, is very good at war. The walls are huge and strong. All the Greeks manage to do in 9 long years is to rape and pillage nearby small towns. Troy still stands.

The Iliad starts with an argument between Agamemnon (top guy) and Achilles (best fighter) and ends, 24 days later, with Achilles killing Hector. This is a terrible loss for the Trojans.

Finally, it is Odysseus (the hero of the book the Odyssey) who figures out that they should make a giant horse and hide a few people in it and pretend to go away. The Trojans have a long and proud history of being horse tamers and they would consider this a sort of "Sorry for the war" kind of departing gift. The ruse works. The horse is