Vergil: Book II

1. They said they built the horse as an offering for a safe return and to appease the

goddess Athena after Ulysses and Diomedes stole a statue called the

Palladium from her shrine.

2. Sinon's comrade Palamedes was put to death by Ulysses for speaking out

against the war. Sinon swore to get revenge for the death of Palamedes

someday. This angered Ulysses.

3. Sinon was to be a human sacrifice for a safe trip, but he escaped and hid in the

swamp. Agamemnon had sacrificed his own daughter Iphiginia for a safe trip to

Troy. When he returned home after the war, his wife Clytemnestra killed him for

that.

4. Sinon's real purpose was to convince the Trojans to pull the horse into the city. He gained their

trust with his sob story about how Ulysses hated him and was

going to sacrifice him. The Trojans felt sorry for him after hearing that, and King

Priam actually took his chains off.

5. The Greeks sailed to the nearby island of Tenedos, and hid on the far shore.

6. Calchas said that if the Trojans hurt the horse, they would bring disaster on

themselves. If they pulled the horse into the city, then the disaster would come

to the Greeks. Calchas was not really there. Sinon told the Trojans what

Calchas had said.

7. Laocoon, the Trojan high priest of Neptune, had injured the horse by throwing a

spear into its side. He along with Capys were the main Trojans against the

horse. Capys had suggested they burn it, throw it into the sea, or at least cut it

open to see what was inside. Laocoon's spear throw was designed to prove it

was hollow. The people ignored the sound.

8. Two serpents came out of the sea and attacked his two sons. He ran to help,

and all three were killed by the snakes. This was the clinching evidence in the

debate, for it proved Calchas' words were true. A Trojan had injured the horse

and disaster had come upon him. Since they came from the sea, it was also a

sign that Neptune was angry at his priest. When they were done, the snakes

went to Athena's shrine and wrapped themselves around the feet and shield of

her statue. This indicated that she was pleased by what had happened. This

section is very important to the story.

9. Cassandra, but no one believed her. Apollo wanted to have sex with her, and

she refused. To punish her, Apollo gave her the gift of prophesy but the curse

that no one would ever believe her.

10. Epeos

11. Sinon He was left free to roam the city after the horse was dragged in.

12. The ghost of Hector. He was killed in the famous dual with Achilles and

dragged around the walls of Troy behind Achilles' chariot as his father Priam

watched.

13. They ambushed a small group of Greeks and put on the Greek armor. This

allowed them to sneak up on the enemy who thought they were friends. This

worked really well until most of them were killed by mistake when they ran into

some Trojans. (Friendly Fire)

14. Pyrrhus

15. His mother Venus stops him. She had given Helen to Paris as a reward for

winning the Judgment of Paris.

16. Instead, Venus tells Aeneas to go get his father, son, and wife and get out of

the city. All is lost for Troy.

17. Ascanius' head catches on fire, but he is not burned. Sound familiar? Another

ancient documentation of spontaneous human combustion. Of course

Anchises interprets this as an omen of greatness for the boy, just as it was

interpreted years later by those who witnessed the burning head of the slave,

Servius Tullius.

18. The Shrine of Ceres the Bereft ( sad because her daughter Proserpina has to

live in the Underworld half the year)

19. Aeneas' wife Creusa. She got lost in the confusion and was killed by Greek

soldiers.

20. Creusa's ghost. In all, three times he was told that all was lost and he should

leave. Hector's ghost, Venus, and Creusa. Pretty stubborn, I guess.