The Greeks besieged Troy for ten years. It was said that the gods took great interest in the war. Hera and Athena still resented Paris for not giving them the Apple of Discord, so they helped the Greek side. Aphrodite assisted the Trojans. Zeus also favored the Trojans, but tried to remain neutral. Eris and her brother Ares helped both sides because they loved war.
In the tenth year of the siege, Agamemnon took Achilles' female prisoner, Briseis, for himself. Achilles was so angry that he refused to fight for the Greeks any longer. But when his friend Patroclus was killed by the mighty Trojan warrior Hector, Achilles returned to the war and killed Hector. Eventually Paris tried to shoot Achilles in the back, but the arrow struck Achilles' heel and he died. Soon Paris, too, was wounded in battle and he also died.
After the deaths of Achilles and another hero, Ajax, the Greeks wanted to give up and go home.
Greek Blogger Camp Day 1
English: Triumphant Achilles: Achilles dragging th...
Briseis and Achilles in a 17th-century book illust...But the king of Ithaca, Odysseus, came up with a plan to get the Greek army into Troy. The Greeks built an immense wooden horse and Odysseus, Menelaus, and other warriors hid inside it. After leaving the horse at the gates of Troy, the Greek army sailed away. The Trojans thought the Greeks had given up and had left the horse as a gift.
Paris's sister Cassandra, a priestess with psychic powers, knew the horse was trouble. She tried to warn her father, King Priam, but he wouldn't listen. A priest named Laocoon also warned the Trojans to beware of Greeks bearing gifts. He too was ignored. The horse was brought inside the walls of Troy.
That night, while the Trojans were sleeping, the Greek ships quietly returned. The soldiers in the horse slipped out...