His name was Sinon. He was
a Greek, but he was hated by Ulysses, and had fled to save his life. The
Greeks had sailed home, he assured us, leaving the horse as a votive
offering to Pallas. They had hoped that its great bulk would prevent the
Trojans from taking it inside their walls, for once within the city, Troy
could never be taken.
"We Trojans were credulous, and Sinon's tale was plausible. To increase
our belief in it, while Laocooen was sacrificing a bull to Neptune, we saw
coming over the sea from Tenedos two huge serpents, their crimson crests
towering high, their breasts erect among the waves, their long folds
sweeping over the foaming sea. As we fled affrighted, they seized the two
sons of Laocooen, twining their coils around the wretched boys; and when
their father hastened to their aid, caught him in their huge coils,
staining his fillets with black blood. 'Laocooen suffered for his crime,'
we said, when, the priest slain, the serpents crept to Pallas's altar, and
curled themselves around the feet of the goddess. Then joyfully we made a
breach in the walls, put rollers under the horse, and, with music and
dancing, dragged it within the walls.
"That night as we lay sleeping after revelry and feasting, Sinon crept
down, opened the horse, and freed the men, who were soon joined by the
other Greeks, returned from Tenedos.
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