The Legend:
The Trojan war had raged on for many years, and there seemed to be no end to it in sight. The two sides, the Greeks and Trojans, were in battle over Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. She had originally been Helen of Sparta (a Greek polis), but because she was so beautiful, Paris of Troy decided to carry her off. Since the Greeks knew they could not win by force, they decided to do this by trickery. A few of the men hid themselves in a huge hollow wooden horse, now known as the Trojan Horse, and the rest packed up into their ship and left, and one Greek, named Sinon, went into Troy as a spy. The Trojans thought the Greeks had surrendered, and were persuaded by Sinon to bring the horse into the city as a victory trophy. That night, the soldiers inside the horse came out and opened the gates to Troy. The Greek ships, which were waiting around the corner, came and ransacked Troy, and thus the war was ended.
The Truth:
Historians and archeologists are not sure whether the Battle of Troy and the Trojan horse actually existed. The most we know of it is through myths and stories. There are other possibilities of what the horse might have been, e.g. a battering ram or a horse-shaped housing unit.
My Diorama:
My diorama shows the Greeks coming out of the horse at night and opening the gates to Troy. The building next the horse is the Cult House, where sacrifices were made.
