When people hear the term Trojan horse, the first thought that comes to their mind is that old myth of ancient Greece, a story that is constructed on wit, patience and silent deceit. Greeks and the Trojans had been engaged in war for nearly a decade, and the war had grown tiring to the two parties.

Greeks were frustrated by the fact that the walls of Troy were too strong. They made some efforts, attacks, negotiations, and tricks, but everything was unsuccessful. The Trojans, in their turn, were assured of the power of their city. Their tall fortifications, good warriors, and their defence driven by time were making them think of them as an invincible group. But after years of struggle, the bravest soldiers were exhausted, and the war seemed to be endless.

Greeks were aware that they could not fight the same way to win. What they needed was something new, something that Troy was not expecting. This was the time the concept of the wooden horse came in.

It wasn’t a decoration and wasn't a symbol of peace; rather, it was a trap meant to seem innocent when it was dangerous. They constructed a giant wooden horse that would have a hollow inside it where armed soldiers could hide. These troops were specially recruited, silent, skilled, patient and bold enough to passively wait in the darkness all night.

The Greeks feigned to abandon the war when they were all prepared. They set fire to their camp, got their ships loaded and sailed off and left no trace behind them except the bizarre wooden horse at the gates. The strategy was meant to mislead the Trojans, and it did just that.

The next morning, when the Trojans had emerged and found the beach deserted, they were appalled. Their enemies had at last disappeared after ten years of hard work. That is what they thought, at least.

They discovered the giant horse, and at once they all began to crowd round it. Some admired its size, some questioned it, some feared it, while a few sounded an early alarm that it was not all it was.

Laocoön was one of those voices.

He was the voice of the priest of the Trojans who felt the danger. He attempted to make people believe that the horse was a ruse; he even plunged a spear in its side, and the hollow sound ought to have been sufficient to reveal the fact, but his warning went ignored.

Cassandra, the princess who was cursed to speak the truth but never to be believed, was another voice that came out.

She has warned them that the horse will kill their city, but her words were always thrown to the wind. They should have been led by excitement, pride and the urge to celebrate victory, which the Trojans made possible. They made themselves believe that the horse was a present or a war prize. They pushed it in without thinking and threw it in the centre of the city.

It was an evening that Troy was celebrating like the war were over. The avenues were full of joy, food, dancing and freedom. Ten years of terror and defeat were over, and they were secure, but danger was already within their walls, in the darkness of the wooden horse.

As the feast broke and the city lay silent, the soldiers, who were in the horse, got out softly and threw open the great gates of the city of Troy.

The Greek army, having faked sailing away, came back under the cover of the night. The gates were broad and open, and the Trojans were unarmed, so the Greeks came in and attacked. Troy, a city that had endured several years of war, collapsed in one night. The fires were glowing up, the troops were leaping about, and a great metropolis fell due to an hour of false confidence.

What renders the Trojan horse memorable is not merely the way in which brilliantly was the execution of the plan but the fact that the Trojans were very close to escaping disaster.

They had warnings, they had signs.

They heard voices that told them to cease. However, they disregarded all that since the horse appeared innocent. It was an ideal demonstration of the way how even the most powerful leaders and the best-equipped cities could be deceived by appearances.

The narrative is, too, a potent one due to the ingenuity of the Greek plot. They had attempted to arm themselves and had been beaten. So they resorted to a plan in muteness, long and intelligent. They knew that being the best does not necessarily mean having the greatest strength, but often, being the different thinker.

They made their scheme work for the Trojans, working on curiosity, pride and excitement.

The Trojans were, however, guilty of the same thing that people continue to do to this day: they trusted something that had a pleasant appearance without ever having to question it. They wanted to believe that the war had ended, and thus they were ignoring the truth standing in their face.

The downfall of Troy demonstrates that a single choice can lead to the alteration of the whole situation. It teaches that one should not be trusting in things without question, particularly when they appear to be too good to be true, and things that are delivered without any clarification. The Trojan horse demonstrates the presence of danger within the beauty, within the gifts, within the innocent-looking things.

The term Trojan horse is applied today to refer to anything that presents itself as friendly but covers its real intentions. Something masquerading as a present but laden with evil. Something posing as aid is to destroy. The message is no different since the teaching is no different.

From ancient battlefields to present-day life, the Trojan horse is a warning that one should always dig deeper, ask questions and never assume that something that seemingly cannot even harm anyone is actually harmless. The most dangerous ones are the ones who just smile at the gate.

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