Main content

Heroes of Troy: 7. Heroes (finale)

Odysseus and a crack contingent of Greeks hide inside the wooden horse and the main part of the Greek army pretend to leave. The Trojans find the wooden horse and wheel it inside the gates of Troy. They think it's all over...

The Greeks take the gates of Troy
I'm thinking: 'What was that all about then?'
The Old Soldier

A select group of Greek soldiers including Odysseus and Menelaus spend the night inside the wooden horse outside the gates of Troy. The Old Soldier gets a spot in one of the horse's ears. In the morning he sees that the entire beach is deserted - the entire Greek army appears to have left, although their ships are in fact hiding behind a nearby island. The Trojans begin to celebrate and they wheel the wooden horse inside the city gates, just as the Greeks had intended they should. That night there is a party in Troy and unnoticed the Greek soldiers slip out of the wooden horse and open the gates to the city. Outside the entire Greek army is waiting. The Old Soldier concludes: 'The truth is, this last bit of my story is not one I'm proud of. It's not exactly...heroic.'

In this episode

NameReminder
OdysseusA Greek; the wooden horse is his idea
MenelausKing of Sparta, husband of Helen. The entire war has been waged in order to secure her return
HectorA Trojan prince - now dead
AchillesA Greek hero - now dead
PatroclusAnother Greek hero - also now dead
AjaxAnother Greek hero - likewise now dead
PriamKing of Troy
HecabeQueen of Troy
AthenaA goddess; the Greeks pretend to have left the horse as an offering to Athena for a safe journey home

Extended vocal warm-up

Join David Grant to sing the extended vocal warm-up

Story questions

Which two important Greeks are inside the wooden horse?

Odysseus and Menelaus

What are the Greeks hoping will happen - what is their plan?

They hope to fool the Trojans into believing they have given up and gone back to Troy. The wooden horse will be left on the beach as an offering to the goddess Athena. The Greeks are hoping the Trojans will then take the horse inside the city, allowing the Greek soldiers inside to slip out when the time is right and open the gates.

How are the Greek soldiers inside the horse nearly discovered?

Children start to crawl all over the horse, fiddling with it and kicking it - but eventually they get bored

What happens to Troy and the people who live there?

The city is destroyed and, as the Old Soldier says: 'To be honest there's only a handful of Trojans walk out of that city alive.'

What happens to Helen - does she return to Sparta with Menelaus?

Yes she does. We've already heard that she only went to Troy with Paris because the gods had bewitched her and now we learn that she survives the 'unpleasantness' and returns with Menelaus as if nothing had ever happened

Resources