"Come then, set the ambush, you which be our mightiest, and the rest shall go to Tenedos' hallowed burg, and there abide until our foes have haled within their walls us with the horse, as deeming that they bring a gift unto Athena" (Odysseus to the assembled Achaeans. Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy 12.233).
"This work for which you crave will I perform—yea, though they torture me, though into fire living they thrust me; for my heart is fixed not to escape, but die by hands of foes, except I crown with glory your desire." (Sinon to the Achaeans, volunteering for his dangerous task. Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy 12.243).
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Sinon, a great liar, is the man who was in
charge of abiding by the WOODEN HORSE and
lighting a beacon lamp as a signal to the Achaeans
for their final assault against Troy.
Insight
After ten years of fruitless military efforts,
the Achaeans realized that Troy perhaps could be taken
by cunning instead of by force, and this insight
invited them to construct a WOODEN HORSE, which
was to become the instrument of their victory. They
let an armed force hide itself inside the horse,
and in order to induce the Trojans to bring it
within the walls, they left it abandoned in the
plain, feigning retreat after engraving on the
horse a treacherous inscription:
"For their
return home, the Achaeans dedicate this
thank-offering to Athena." (Apollodorus, Library "Epitome" 5.15).
The Achaeans succeeded with their intent; for
the Trojans found the horse, and being blinded by
fate, they thought themselves victorious. And being
likewise deaf to Cassandra's and Laocoon 2's warnings,
they dragged the WOODEN
HORSE within the walls. The armed force inside the horse was thought to
come forth in the middle of the night and open the
gates for the rest of the army, which, after
burning their own tents in front of Troy, was waiting with
their fleet off the island of Tenedos, or perhaps
near cape Sigeum, for a signal to attack. And the
man in charge to give that signal to the army was
Sinon.
Sinon's signal
Everything went as planned, for as they say fate
itself wished it. And when the sounds of feast and
music died away, Sinon unlocked the WOODEN HORSE,
letting the armed force come forth, and started
signalling with a shining brand beside the tomb of Achilles, since the
gates would soon open, and it was time for the
Achaeans to return and make the final assault.
Sinon captured
Also this was done according to plan. But some
say that, the day before, when the fate of the WOODEN HORSE,
whether to destroy it or to keep it, was yet to be
decided, Sinon was captured by some Trojan
shepherds, who brought him handcuffed into the
king's presence. This happened outside the city
just after Laocoon 2 hit the horse with his spear, warning his
countrymen not to trust the enemy's gift. The prisoner Sinon, who had deliberately put
himself in the path of his captors (for one of his
tasks was to abide by the horse), did not deny that
he was one of the Achaeans, but swore that he would
tell the whole truth, asseverating:
"... if Fortune has cast Sinon for tragedy, she
shall not wantonly shape me into a liar as
well." (Sinon to the Trojans. Virgil, Aeneid 2.79).
Crimes of the Achaeans
He began his speech by recalling the fate of Palamedes, whom the
Achaeans had put to death as traitor, for being,
Sinon said, against the war. And himself, he added,
being a poor man, had served the same Palamedes as a squire,
enjoying distinction for as long as his master's
authority was unshaken. But when, through Odysseus' intrigues, Palamedes died, he
himself was ruined, and in his bitterness he
promised to take revenge. But when Odysseus heard the
threat, said Sinon to the Trojans, he started to
persecute him with new slanders, conspiring against
him in every possible way, and even putting such
important persons as Calchas under his
influence.
Trumpcard
Having come that far in his story, Sinon told
the Trojans that there was no point in delaying
them any longer with sorry tales, and played his
trumpcard, telling them that if they thought all
Achaeans were alike they could as well condemn him,
and added that Odysseus would love that, and the sons of Atreus would pay them
handsomely.
Sacrificial victim
But now the Trojans wished to hear more, and
Sinon was only eager to please them. He told them
that the Achaeans often longed to withdraw and
return home, but the winds were always against
them; that finally they sent one of them to Apollo's oracle to
inquire, and that the god had answered that by the
same way they had appeased the winds at Aulis when
sailing against Troy, they
should do now. That is, through human blood; for
before, the Achaeans, for the sake of a favorable
wind, had sacrificed Iphigenia. Now Sinon
told the Trojans that Odysseus, wishing to
frame him, had pulled Calchas forth to tell
the god's will; but Calchas, not wishing to
commit to death anyone by his utterance, was
reluctant to follow Odysseus' vicious
advice, and the latter, having lost his patience,
pointed out Sinon as sacrificial victim
nevertheless, a decision promptly approved by all
since it absolved everyone else.
Moral burden
This is the reason, continued Sinon, why he was
forced to desert the Achaean camp, carrying besides
a moral burden: for he knew that the Achaeans would
exact reprisals on his innocent father and sons
because of his escape. And having thus touched
their hearts, he asked for mercy, which the Trojans
granted.
Confession
Then Priam 1 ordered
the handcuffs to be struck off and asked him:
"Why did they
build this huge monster of a horse? Who advised it?
Is their object religious? or was it to be some
engine of war?" (Priam 1 to Sinon. Virgil, Aeneid 2.150).
Sinon did not hesitate: he swore that the sole
purpose of the WOODEN
HORSE was to placate Athena, angry at the
Achaeans after the theft of the Palladium; that Calchas had pronounced
retreat, for Troy no longer
could be destroyed since Diomedes 2 and Odysseus snatched up
the goddess' sacred image and massacred the
sentries on the citadel. That Troy (said Sinon that Calchas had declared)
could never be taken unless the Achaeans sailed
back home to fetch new luck. And he added:
"So at this
moment they're running free towards Mycenae ... they built this horse to
dispel the curse of guilt for stealing Athena's image and wounding her
godhead."
And then Sinon tempted the Trojans thus:
"But Calchas bade them built the horse of
enormous size ... so that it could not get through
your gates or be towed within the walls, and thus
become your guardian ..." (Sinon to the Trojans. Virgil, Aeneid 2.180ff.).
This is how Sinon, by cunning and crocodile
tears, saved the WOODEN
HORSE and the armed force within, inducing the
Trojans to spare it and drag it into the city, so
as to win, by its presence, the protection of Athena that they had lost
when the Palladium was
stolen. Moreover, the horse would make them
stronger than ever, enabling them to bring their
host to Hellas and conquer her.
Torture
Such were the lies that Sinon told the Trojans. But others have said that the Trojans found him
on the shore near the WOODEN HORSE, and tortured him for a long time, shearing ears and nose away, and tormenting him in every wise, and asking him for "the truth," a philosophical concept that does not fail to enchant every torturer each time he finds a victim (for otherwise he does not care a whit about it): "And where have all the Achaeans gone? And what is this horse?" they asked. But Sinon had a single string of words to provide:
"The Achaeans
in their ships flee overseas, weary of tribulation
of endless war. This horse by Calchas' counsel fashioned they for wise Athena, to propitiate." (Sinon to the Trojans. Quintus Smyrnaeus, The
Fall of Troy 12.375).
... to which he added that he had fled the
Achaeans because he was marked for slaughter, to be
sacrificed to win the army a safe return.
"A deadly
fraud is this" (Quintus Smyrnaeus, The
Fall of Troy 12.390).
... said the Trojan seer Laocoon 2, when he
heard Sinon's account. But when they all witnessed
how circumstances overwhelmed this seer, seeming to
punish his unfriendliness towards the horse, they
led Sinon in friendly wise to Troy, even repenting for
what they had done to him while they brought the
horse into the city.
Lover of Fame
But at night, when sleep had come upon the city,
Sinon lifted high a blazing torch to tell the army
that the time had come to return, and unlocking the
horse, let his fellows come forth. For this
prowess, for having lured the enemy and have
endured torture, for knowing how to tell lies, or
for being able to keep a secret Sinon won much
praise at the hour of victory. And they say that he
cared much more for Fame than for his lost nose and ears, since they chant
thus:
"And for his
own misfeaturing sorrowed not. For the wise and
prudent man renown is better far than gold, than
goodlihead, than all good things men have or hope
to win." (Quintus Smyrnaeus, The
Fall of Troy 14.112).
The Performer's make-up
Others have said that Sinon, in order to perform
his role properly, scarred his limbs with stripes,
letting blood flow over his shoulders from wounds
that he inflicted to his own body; for only then
the Trojans would come closer to believe that he
was the enemy of his own people. In that shape,
with weals all over, he appealed to Priam 1 as a suppliant,
grovelling before the king's feet, touching his
knees, and accusing the Achaeans for what they had
done to Achilles (from
whom they snatched away his sweetheart Briseis); for their
pitiless ways when they abandoned the wounded Philoctetes; for the
treacherous framing of Palamedes, whom they slandered and stoned to death. He could reproach the Achaeans many things, Sinon; he nevertheless put up with each and all of them. But when he came to himself, Sinon said that the
Achaeans had punished him because he had refused to
flee. It was then a brave man that now begged Priam 1 for mercy,
arguing that if the king killed a suppliant, the
Achaeans would rejoice.
The shining brands
Priam 1 pardoned him,
but (as others also say) the king asked about the
horse. And here Sinon is reported to have answered:
"If you allow
it to abide her in its place, it is decreed that
the spear of the Achaeans shall capture Troy; but if Athena receive it a holy offering in her
shrine, then they shall flee away with their task
unaccomplished." (Sinon to Priam 1. Tryphiodorus, The
Taking of Ilios 296).
On hearing that, Priam 1 ordered the horse to be taken into the city.
But at night, the same Sinon showed his message
with a shining brand. They say that he was not the
only one signalling that night: also Helen displayed a torch
from her chamber to her friends, who speedily
returned either from Sigeum or from Tenedos, and
coming in full armour into the city, slaughtered
whomever they found, parents and children alike, in
homes, streets, temples, or any other place, sacred
or not..
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