Haiku (Laocoon's Death)

Latin:

Gemini angues
ad litora tendunt
occidere Laocoon
______________

English:

Twin snakes
head towards the shore
to kill Laocoon

Sinon's Story

For the Greeks to win the war against Troy, they had to come up with a way to trick the Trojans into bringing the horse into their city. Therefore, Sinon's story was key to this and Odysseus was able to play on the Trojan's wants and fears to make them believe the story. Odysseus knew that the best lies incorporate some truth in them, so he added elements of truth that made his story seem legitimate. First of all, they Sinon play the part of the victim who was friends with a Greek kind that openly opposed the war and was killed. The Trojans had known this so so far it made sense to them. Then Sinon claimed that Odyseus was after him and made a preist lie to sacrifice him, also saying that the reason there needed to be a sacrifice was because Odysseus had sacked a Trojan temple (which he really had) and the gods were mad. The Trojans also knew that to gain favor originally the leader of the greeks had to sacrifice his daughter. So Sinon said he escaped with the Greeks after him. This made the Trojans think that Sinon was no longer in favor of the Greeks and so they welcomed him to their city. Making Odysseus the bad guy of the story was also not a coincidence; the Greeks knew that the Trojans feared Odysseus and hated him for some of the acts he commited during the war. Then, to get the Trojans to bring the horse into their city Sinons said that it was a gift to the gods for good favor (playing on how religious and superstitous the Trojans were) and that in they brought it into their city they would be able to lauch a sussesful counter attack into greece and expand their empire. By saying this they played right into the Trojan's fantasies of revenge and coquest after being invaded and under seige for ten long years. This made the Trojans not want to destroy the horse and bring it into their city. Therefore, the Greeks used elements of truth to make their story beleivable to the Trojans and played on the wants and fears of the Trojans as well.