The story of the Trojan Horse has become much more than a legend. The phrase is used metaphorically to mean deceit, guile, and trickery. As depicted by Homer in Odyssey, the Trojan Horse was the last resort of Greeks who had tried everything else to enter the formidable castle of Troy.
However, without solid proofs, this story was bound to remain only a fable. Hence, an attempt was made by specialists to check whether there was any real-life evidence of the Greek invasion in Troy with the help of huge horse hiding soldiers inside of it. The movie The Real Trojan Horse depicts findings of professionals from several fields dwelling on the possibility of Troy having been destroyed by a deceitful gift. The main point of the film is that although legends should be taken with a pinch of salt, there may be some grain of truth in them.
The Real Trojan Horse visualizes ancient architecture and events through careful analyses made by forensic investigators, archeologists, historians, and military engineers. All of the evidence employed in the movie presents reliable material based on professional research. From time to time, facts are compared to lines from Homer’s Odyssey in an attempt to evaluate whether the legendary author was telling the truth in his story.
The way in which numerous speakers present historical facts and finding is rather engaging. However, the engagement side of the story is not the most important one. What is crucial is that the moviemakers have managed to recreate many events from the Bronze Age, some of which were not known before. For instance, excavations indicate that there had been another devastating damage made to Troy before the attack of Greeks. The most likely cause of the city’s demolition, according to specialists, was an earthquake. However, it is undoubted that Greeks brought much harm to Troy and its citizens, as well. What is not clear, though, is whether the Trojan Horse existed in the form described by Homer.
With the help of carefully collected evidence and historical facts, the documentary allows singling out several viable options of what could have been taken for the horse by Homer. The first idea is that it was a construction carrying the battering ram that Greeks used to open Troy’s heavy gates. The second possibility is that what was depicted as a horse was, in fact, a siege tower. Since such towers were only beginning to appear in those times, historians suggest that people may not have known how to describe them.
The specialists engaged in the film mention that it is doubtful that Trojans could have been so naïve as to accept an enormous horse as a gift and not have any doubts of its size and possible danger hidden in it. However, the excavations indicate that the battle between Greeks and Trojans was indeed a large-scale one and that Troy could not recover after it.
The documentary The Real Trojan Horse offers a variety of facts based on professional research and investigations. It is possible to assume that the Trojan Horse was only a legend, but it is necessary to bear in mind that the legend had to be based on some facts. While the true origin of the story cannot be found out, the film creators made a considerable attempt to get closer to solving the mystery.