Trojan Horse
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the computer virus, see Trojan horse (computing).
The Trojan Horse is a big wooden horse from the Trojan War in Greek mythology.
In the Trojan War, the Greeks were fighting against the city of Troy, but could not enter or win. Because of this, Odysseus, one of the Greeks, thought of a way to trick the Trojans. The Greeks built a big wooden horse that was empty inside, so they could hide in it. Then they pretended to stop the war and go away, leaving the wooden horse as a present. The Trojans then took the horse and put it inside their city. At night, the Greeks left the horse, and were now inside the city. Because of this they could open the gates for the other Greeks, and could easily overpower and take over the city. With this the Greeks won the Trojan War.
Today the word "Trojan horse" is used for things that are similar to that story: something that looks good and okay, but in truth has another purpose, usually bad. An example for this is the computer virus Trojan horse.
