Achilles (Mythological character) -- Juvenile literature; Epic poetry, Greek -- Adaptations; Readers; Trojan War -- Juvenile literature
When it was finished, provisions were put into it. Then Ulysses, and
Pyrrhus, and Menelaus, and Epeus, and a number of other Greek warriors,
mounted into it by means of a ladder, after which the opening was
fastened by strong bolts.
In the hollow side,
Selected numbers of their soldiers hide;
With inward arms the dire machine they load;
And iron bowels stuff the dark abode.
VERGIL.
Meanwhile the other Greeks broke up their camp, and all going aboard
their ships, they set sail, as if they had given up the siege, and were
about to return to Greece. But they went no farther than the island of
Tenʹe-dos, about three miles from the shore.
In sight of Troy lies Tenedos, an isle
(While Fortune did on Priam's empire smile)
Renowned for wealth; but since, a faithless bay,
Where ships exposed to wind and weather lay.
There was their fleet concealed.
VERGIL.
As soon as the Trojans saw from their walls that the tents of the enemy
were removed, and that their fleet had departed, they were filled with
surprise and delight. They believed that the Greeks had given up the
war, and so, throwing open their gates, they rushed out in multitudes
upon the plain, King Priam riding in his chariot at their head.
The Trojans, cooped within their walls so long,
Unbar their gates, and issue in a throng
Like swarming bees, and with delight survey
The camp deserted, where the Grecians lay.
VERGIL.
But soon their attention was attracted by the huge wooden horse, and
they gathered about it, astonished at its great size, and wondering what
it meant. Some thought that it meant evil to Troy, and advised that it
should be burned; others proposed that it should be hauled into the city
and placed within the citadel. La-ocʹo-on, one of Priam's sons, who was
also a priest of Apollo, cried out in a loud voice, warning the king
and people against doing this. "Are you so foolish," he exclaimed, "as
to suppose that the enemy are gone? Put no faith in this horse. Whatever
it is, I fear the Greeks even when offering gifts."
"This hollow fabric either must enclose
Within its blind recess, our secret foes;
Or 'tis an engine raised above the town
To overlook the walls, and then to batter down.
Somewhat is sure designed by fraud or force:
Trust not their presents, nor admit the horse."
VERGIL.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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