On account of this hatred of the Trojans, Juno persuaded her royal
husband, Jupiter, to consent to the downfall of Troy, and so the valor
of all its heroic defenders, of whom Aeneas was one, could not save it
from its fate, decreed by the king of the gods. Many famous warriors
fell during the long siege. Hec'tor, son of Priam, the greatest of the
Trojan champions, was slain by A-chil'les, the most valiant of the
Greeks, and Achilles was himself slain by Paris. After losing their
bravest leader the Greeks despaired of being able to take the city by
force, and so they resorted to stratagem. By the advice of Minerva
they erected a huge horse of wood on the plain in front of the walls,
and within its body they placed a chosen band of their boldest
warriors. Then pretending that they had given up the struggle, they
withdrew to their ships, and set sail, as if with the purpose of
returning to Greece. But they went no further than Ten'e-dos, an
island opposite Troy, a few miles from the coast.

"There was their fleet concealed. We thought for Greece
Their sails were hoisted, and our fears release.
The Trojans, cooped within their walls so long,
Unbar their gates and issue in a throng
Like swarming bees, and with delight survey
The camp deserted, where the Grecians lay:
The quarters of the several chiefs they showed:
Here Phoe'nix, here Achilles, made abode;
Here joined the battles; there the navy rode.
Part on the pile their wandering eyes employ--
The pile by Pallas raised to ruin Troy."
DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK II.

The Trojans when they saw the big horse, could not think what it