THE END OF TROY AND THE SAVING OF HELEN

In the culminating events of the Trojan War, as depicted in “Tales of Troy,” the Trojans witnessed the Greek fleet’s departure and discovered their deserted camp and a giant wooden horse left behind, amidst their joy and suspicion. The Trojans, upon finding Sinon—a Greek left intentionally—were initially hostile but became intrigued by his fabricated story of being a scapegoat for the Greeks, condemned to death as a sacrifice to the gods for a safe journey home. Sinon cunningly persuaded the Trojans of the horse’s divine significance, urging its preservation to avoid the wrath of the goddess Pallas Athene.

Deceived by Sinon’s tale, the Trojans brought the wooden horse into Troy, engaging in celebrations that masked their impending doom. Meanwhile, Helen, under Deiphobus’s guard, was coerced into mimicking the voices of Greek warriors’ wives in an attempt to deceive the hidden Greeks within the horse. Despite a single moment of near-betrayal, the Greeks inside remained silent, maintaining their ruse.

As night fell and Troy lay in drunken slumber, the Greek warriors emerged from the horse, opening the gates for their returning forces. A brutal massacre ensued, with the Greeks sparing no Trojan, leading to the desecration of sacred spaces and the slaughter of Priam, Troy’s aged king, by Neoptolemus. Amidst the chaos, Menelaus sought Helen, intending vengeance. However, upon finding her, his resolve melted away, replaced by a rekindled love. Ulysses, revealing his role in sparing Helen by invoking a previously sworn oath, played a part in this reconciliation.

The narrative, dense with cunning stratagems and dramatic turns, captures the final hours of Troy’s siege. The Greeks’ deceptive ploy, involving the wooden horse—a symbol of both their guile and the Trojans’ folly—brought about Troy’s downfall. The chapter intricately intertwines themes of deception, fate, and the volatile nature of human emotions, culminating in a poignant, albeit tragic, denouement of the Trojan War saga, where love and vengeance vie for primacy in the human heart.