1 Long ago, there was a battle between the Greeks and the Trojans. This battle had been going on for ten years. While both sides grew weary in battle, neither was willing to surrender. The long war finally ended, but not in the typical way wars end. Instead, it ended with trickery and deceit.

2 The Trojan army had shut themselves up safely within their own walled city. The walls were twenty feet high. In order to enter the city, a person would have to go through one locked gate. The Trojan warriors would stand on the walls and shoot sharp arrows at anyone who tried to break into their city. These walls made it almost impossible for the Greeks to enter the Trojan's city.

3 The Greeks realized if they were to ever have a victory, they would have to come up with a plan to enter the city of Troy without the Trojans knowing it. Odysseus, a wise Greek warrior, came up with a great plan. He explained to his Greek army that they were going to trick the Trojans. First, they would admit defeat to the Trojans, then they would pretend to board their ship and head home. The soldiers were puzzled at Odysseus's plan, until he told them the rest of it.

4 He explained that they would o er a gift to the Trojans. This "act" of generosity would trick the Trojans into believing the Greeks wanted peace. The men became interested and wanted to know more. Odysseus described what the gift would be. It would be a giant wooden horse on wheels. They would roll it into the city. Inside, though, some of the Greeks would be hiding. While some men would climb into the horse and wait, the other soldiers would pretend to board the ship and sail away in defeat.

5 Everyone agreed that this was a great plan, so Odysseus gathered together skilled craftsmen to build the horse. Once the horse was complete, Odysseus and thirty of his men climbed into the horse. The rest of the army pretended to sail away.

6 When the Trojans saw the Greek army’s ship sail away, they celebrated like they had never celebrated before. The Trojans ran outside the walled city for the first time in a long time. They danced, shouted, and chased each other along the shore. As they were enjoying their freedom outside of the city, they came upon the large wooden horse.

7 Fascinated by the craftsmanship of this great wooden animal, the Trojans discussed what to do with the horse. At that moment, a long debate broke out among them. One wise man warned them to not take this gift from the Greeks. He suggested that the horse should be burned, but the majority of the Trojans thought it was harmless. They could not possibly see how keeping the gift would be a bad idea. After all, the Greeks were gone. Some Trojans brought ropes and placed them around the wooden horse. Then, they dragged it through the gate of the city of Troy.

8 That night while the Trojans slept, Odysseus and his men hid inside the wooden horse. Once the Trojans were asleep, the Greek soilders climbed down a rope, one by one. When all were down safely, they quietly opened wide the city gate. Waiting outside were the Greek soldiers who had appeared to leave on the ship, but who had actually gone only a small distance to the other side of the island. Quietly, they had returned to the city of Troy unnoticed by the Trojans. The Greek army anxiously awaited the opening of the gate by Odysseus and his men. Once open, the men rushed inside the gate with their swords, shields and lit torches. The Greeks began to set the town on fire and overtook the Trojans by surprise. By the time the Trojans figured out what had happened, it was too late and the Greeks had defeated the Trojans by deceit and trickery.