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Mythographia

    Source Verification: The Fall of Troy

    Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.

    What the Sources Attest

    Is The Fall of Troy in The Odyssey?

    Yes, but only in pieces. Demodocus sings of the horse and the sack at the Phaeacian court. Menelaus recalls Helen circling the horse. In the underworld Odysseus tells the shade of Achilles that his son Neoptolemus, one of the best of the Argives who went down into the horse, never grew pale. The Odyssey never tells the night as one continuous story.

    Source: Homer, Odyssey 8.492-520

    Why did Zeus let Troy fall?

    In the Iliad Zeus yields to Hera, though unwillingly. He says that of all the cities of men, sacred Ilios was most honoured in his heart, because Priam and his people never failed to give him offerings. In Virgil, Venus tells Aeneas that no mortal fault destroyed the city. He sees Neptune, Juno and Pallas at the walls, while Jupiter gives the Greeks strength.

    Source: Homer, Iliad 4.30-49

    How many men were inside the wooden horse?

    The sources give no single number. Apollodorus says Odysseus planned to send fifty men in, and adds that the Little Iliad, a lost epic, says three thousand. Homer gives no count and calls them the best of the Argives. Quintus Smyrnaeus lists many heroes, with Neoptolemus entering first and Epeius, who built the horse, last.

    Source: Apollodorus, Epitome 5.14

    Did anyone escape from Troy?

    Aeneas did. In Apollodorus the Greeks see him carry out his father Anchises and let him go in honour of his piety. They also spare Glaucus, the son of Antenor. In Virgil, Aeneas lifts Anchises onto his shoulders, with his son at his side, and loses his wife Creusa in the confusion.

    Source: Apollodorus, Epitome 5.21

    What happened to the Trojan women after the city fell?

    The captives were shared out as prizes. Apollodorus says Agamemnon took Cassandra, Neoptolemus took Andromache and Odysseus took Hecuba. He adds that the Greeks slaughtered Polyxena on the grave of Achilles and threw Astyanax from the battlements. Euripides's Trojan Women opens on the same fates, and Talthybius announces the allotment to Hecuba.

    Source: Euripides, Trojan Women 271-278

    Where Accounts Differ

    • laocoon-three-fates
    • men-inside-the-horse
    • who-opened-the-horse
    • iliad-does-not-narrate-the-fall
    • Laocoon's death is told three ways. Apollodorus (Epitome 5.18) has two serpents devour only his sons. Virgil (Aeneid 2.199-231) has them kill Laocoon as well, after he threw his spear at the horse. Quintus Smyrnaeus (Posthomerica 12) has Athena blind him before the serpents kill his sons. Quintus is cited by work and book only, because his lines were not checked against a registered text.
    • The men in the horse are counted differently. Apollodorus (Epitome 5.14) gives fifty and reports the Little Iliad as saying three thousand. Homer gives no number (Odyssey 8.492-520). The Little Iliad is lost and is known here only through Apollodorus.
    • The opening of the horse is given to different hands. In Apollodorus (Epitome 5.19-5.20) Sinon lights a beacon and the hidden men let themselves down by rope and open the gates. In Virgil (Aeneid 2.250-267) Sinon opens the horse. The Odyssey does not say.
    • The Iliad does not narrate the fall. It ends with Hector's funeral, and the plan, the night and the sack come from the Odyssey (8.492-520), Virgil, Apollodorus and Quintus, written centuries after the Iliad. Only Apollodorus gives the events in a single order.

    Sources

    Primary sources
    • Homer, Iliad 4.30-49
    • Homer, Iliad 24.25-30
    • Homer, Odyssey 4.271-289
    • Homer, Odyssey 8.492-520
    • Homer, Odyssey 11.523-532
    • Apollodorus, Epitome 5.14
    • Apollodorus, Epitome 5.15
    • Apollodorus, Epitome 5.16-5.17
    • Apollodorus, Epitome 5.18
    • Apollodorus, Epitome 5.19
    • Apollodorus, Epitome 5.20
    • Apollodorus, Epitome 5.21
    • Apollodorus, Epitome 5.22
    • Apollodorus, Epitome 5.23
    • Apollodorus, Epitome 6.23
    • Virgil, Aeneid 2.40-56
    • Virgil, Aeneid 2.195-198
    • Virgil, Aeneid 2.199-231
    • Virgil, Aeneid 2.234-249
    • Virgil, Aeneid 2.250-267
    • Virgil, Aeneid 2.268-297
    • Virgil, Aeneid 2.469-558
    • Virgil, Aeneid 2.589-623
    • Virgil, Aeneid 2.707-729
    • Euripides, Trojan Women 271-278
    • Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica 12