Larry Wilson, age 9, Tuscon, Arizona,:

Was there really a Trojan horse?

The siege of Troy is a stirring drama of heroes and tragedy. The tale has held people spellbound for 3 centuries. Many scholars have puzzled to separate the true facts from the enchanting poetry. Best estimates set the fall of great Troy 3200 years ago, around 1200 B.C.

In those far off days, there were no reporters to take notes and cover the story. But this news event was vitally important to the peoples around the Aegean Sea. It had to be kept alive and handed down to their children.

They did this the best way they knew, fragments were gathered together

and the entire story told and retold. The Norse peoples did this in their ‑sagas. They recited the tales of bold Eric and lucky Leif from generation to generation. Old timers listened carefully to keep the sagas accurate.

The recitations of Troy were watched‑over by bards. Later, the entire story was told every four years. It was done when the rulers of the scattered Greek tribes met in Athens: One part alone of the heroic tale took 20 hours to recite. As one speaker tired, another took up the story,

Gods and goddesses were woven into the tale. Monsters were brought in to make natural events more vivid. A whirlpool was described as a hungry, open‑mouthed giant. The surf on a rocky reef became the treacherous song of sea maidens. Such word pictures are part of all poetry, maybe the famous wooden horse was also one of these word pictures.

The grand tale may have been handed down from memory for 300 years, Then the bards began to write it, maybe in scattered fragments. Later the tale of the heroes was written in two books of  poetry, The Greeks of 2000 years ago said the author of this most lofty Uterature was Homer. These scholars said Homer was a blind, wandering poet. They knew little about him and were not agreed as to where he came from. The tale of Troy was old, even then. But they recognized that the stirring story had been recorded in two epin books of great poetry. The Iliad and the Odessey are still rated with man's greatest poetic creations.

There is no doubt that the noble tales go back to some event in history, Scholars have found the site of ancient Troy. Its mighty walls could well have held the Greek heroes at bay for ten long years. Certainly some trick was used to pierce the fortress. Though no wooden horse was found among the ruins to prove that part of the story.

So you may take a guess and no one can contradict you.. Andy, for one, believes the story of Homer’s Iliad. After ten years of siege, hearts were heavy in both camps. For brave Hector and glamorous Achilles had been slayed. The wiley Greeks then rolled their wooden gift horse to the grieving king within the city, Night fell and the sad city slept. A few bronze‑helmeted Greeks crept from the hollow Trojan Horse and sped to open wide the city gates.