This interesting painting, titled “The Trojan Horse,” was created by an unknown artist who was inspired by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527 – 1593). Portrayed in the artwork is a scene that harkens back to one of the most famous episodes from ancient legends and myths about the Trojan War, which was immortalized in literature by the famous poetry of Homer (flourished c. 8th century). As the story goes, Queen Helen of Sparta was abducted by (or ran off with) Prince Paris of Troy, causing a Greek coalition of allies to launch a decade-long siege of Troy. When ten years of brawn failed to topple the Trojan defenses, the Greeks finally decided to resort to cunning—a quality epitomized by the Greek hero, Odysseus. Feigning retreat, the Greeks withdrew their forces out of view from Troy, and they left behind a giant wooden statue of a horse as a peace offering to the Trojans. Warriors of Troy, seeing no foes in sight and only a large prize deposited at their doorstep, made the fateful decision to open up their gates in order to bring the curious trophy within their walls. This, however, was exactly what the Greek forces wanted. Unbeknownst to the Trojans, the Greek coalition’s most talented warriors were crammed into hollow spaces within the horse statue, and these elite forces had just been carried past the formidable walls of Troy and into the vulnerable heart of the city. With the introduction of the Trojan Horse into Troy, the city’s fate was sealed. Homer described the strategy’s effectiveness, writing, “It was destiny that they should perish when Troy received within her walls that mighty Wooden Horse, laden with the flower of the Argive might bringing doom and slaughter to the Trojans…the Achaean warriors, leaving their hollow ambush, poured out from the Horse to ravage Troy; how they scattered through the streets of the city leaving ruin in their wake” (Homer, The Odyssey, 8.510-520). It is this ancient tale that inspired the painting featured above. The artwork shows Greek warriors uncomfortably pressed together and interlocked, their crowded bodies impressively filling the outline of a horse, from head, to hoof, to tail.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- The Odyssey by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and edited by D. C. H. Rieu. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009.
- Apollodorus, The Library of Greek Mythology, translated by Robin Hard. New York, Oxford University Press, 1997.
- https://collection.nationalmuseum.se/en/collection/item/39992/
