Have archaeologists found the legendary Trojan Horse?

"Depiction of the story of the Trojan horse in the art of Gandhara. British Museum."

Long considered to be mythology by academics and historians, Homer (among others) captured the imagination of generations of people with his epic tales and poems of the Trojan war in the Illiad and Odyssey. A tale of a decade long siege of the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after a Prince of Troy took the wife of the King of Sparta.

Most people may not be familiar with the details of the story, but almost everyone is familiar with the instrument used to end the war, the Trojan horse, which has become iconic the world over.

The end of the war came with one final plan. Odysseus devised a new ruse—a giant hollow wooden horse, an animal that was sacred to the Trojans. It was built by Epeius and guided by Athena, from the wood of a cornel tree grove sacred to Apollo, with the inscription:

The Greeks dedicate this thank-offering to Athena for their return home. The hollow horse was filled with soldiers led by Odysseus.

The rest of the army burned the camp and sailed for Tenedos. When the Trojans discovered that the Greeks were gone, believing the war was over, they "joyfully dragged the horse inside the city", while they debated what to do with it…

…The Trojans decided to keep the horse and turned to a night of mad revelry and celebration. Sinon, an Achaean spy, signaled the fleet stationed at Tenedos when "it was midnight and the clear moon was rising" and the soldiers from inside the horse emerged and killed the guards…The Achaeans entered the city and killed the sleeping population. A great massacre followed which continued into the day.

In 1863, Frank Calvert made the myth reality when he discovered the site of Troy, but it would be Heinrich Schliemann who would give the story new life in 1870 with his own excavations. The succeeding 150 years would see 24 excavations done at the location in Canakkale (Gallipoli) Turkey. At this point, archaeologists generally agree that Troy existed, but they don’t always agree on the timing or the cause of the war, but a new discovery may answer some long held questions.

Turkish archaeologists excavating the site of the city of Troy on the hills of Hisarlik have discovered a large wooden structure that they believe are the remains of the Trojan Horse. These excavations include dozens of fir planks and beams up to 15 meters (49 feet) long, assembled in a strange form.

Boston university carbon dating says the wooden pieces and artifacts tested date from the appropriate time between the 12th and 11th centuries BC.

“This matches the dates cited for the Trojan War, by many ancient historians like Eratosthenes or Proclus. The assembly of the work also matches the description made by many sources. I don’t want to sound overconfident, but I’m pretty certain that we found the real thing!”

The real clincher for the archaeologists came with yet another discovery at the dig…

Archaeologists also discovered a damaged bronze plate with the inscription, “For their return home, the Greeks dedicate this offering to Athena.” Quintus Smyrnaeus refers to this plate in his epis poem "Posthomerica."

How many people are familiar with the old saying “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts” and Trojan malware on computers? Has the root of an icon/archetype finally been found to be a historical event rather than an epic fable? We may not have to wait long to find out.

Main sources used or quoted in the OP.
Did archaeologists find the Trojan Horse?
Fall of Troy: the legend and the facts
Ancient Troy: The City & the Legend
[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_War]Wikipedia: Trojan War

a reply to: Klassified

Cool! Very cool if true! Thanks for this.

Actually, I can't imagine the horse would be all that big, maybe big enough for two or three really small, quiet guys at the most who could slip out and 86 the guards and open the gate.

a reply to: Klassified

Very cool. Thanks for the thread. I will be reading more about this for the rest of the day!

originally posted by: Blue Shift
Actually, I can't imagine the horse would be all that big, maybe big enough for two or three really small, quiet guys at the most who could slip out and 86 the guards and open the gate.

We know the Greeks of the time were more than capable of building an over-sized wooden horse, and there had to be enough soldiers to defeat the city of troy from within, so I would say more than 2 or 3 would be needed, but we also know Spartan soldiers were likely the best trained soldiers in the world at that time, so it would not take many to fight and defeat an unsuspecting and unprepared enemy.

Maybe this discovery will eventually answer the question of how big the wooden horse was.

If it turns out to be the actaul trojan horse then wow what an amazing find.
Would be so cool to see it reconstructed from the orginal wood in a museum some day.

I wonder if the story was for real-
Did any of those stealth ninjas carve their initials/a prayer/name into the wood inside as they waited to emerge not knowing their fate?
I would bet at least one did.

I would be looking for letters or other marks-maybe religious symbols, if the wood is well preserved enough to do that.

Defo a story to keep an eye on,cheers Klassified.

a reply to: Klassified

I was very excited to read about this find and went to your first link.

One of the comments says this is a hoax. Apparently, an article was published in 2014 with the same information.

The original article is now 404:
worldnewsdailyreport.com...

But I found it on the Wayback Machine:

ETA: It won't let me post the direct link to the Wayback Machine. Search for the above link to World News Daily Report

I'm quite sad about this if it fake.

a reply to: Encia22
Thanks, and thanks for the links. You would the think the JP would be a somewhat reliable source, but I guess not in this case. I will do some more checking, but I don't doubt this is another "Piltdown man".

The mods may need to move this to the hoax bin.

a reply to: Klassified

Yeah, I was surprised, too.

Here is a screenshot of the WBM I couldn't link to:

a reply to: Encia22
Oddly enough, this story has been reproduced by many news sources this month. WTF?

a reply to: Klassified

Well, I guess it's a great story. I very much enjoyed your OP and I'm curious to go refresh my memory about Homer and Troy... Not all is lost!

a reply to: Encia22
Here ya go...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Win some, lose some. This should be a lesson to all of us to look just a little closer at the sources for a story.

ETA: I highly recommend reading Homer's Illiad and Odyssey. In pieces of course. It's not a small undertaking.

ETA2: I have asked the mods to move this to the hoax bin.

a reply to: Klassified

It's an old article and ATS post... I would have done the same in the excitement.

In any case, I believe the Trojan Horse was real and its relic must be out there, somewhere...

While it seems too good to be true and I haven't read the articles... could it be that the original discovery dates back to 2014 and now in 2021 they finally have enough results (carbon dating) to support the original hopes and claims?

originally posted by: MindBodySpiritComplex
While it seems too good to be true and I haven't read the articles... could it be that the original discovery dates back to 2014 and now in 2021 they finally have enough results (carbon dating) to support the original hopes and claims?

Still looking, but I have not found any source to lend credence to the article at this time. If I do, I will let it be known.

Hmmm ... why does the Trojan Horse remind me of the vax program? Oh well... brains are fickle.

Very cool find and thanks for posting it.

originally posted by: MindBodySpiritComplex
While it seems too good to be true and I haven't read the articles... could it be that the original discovery dates back to 2014 and now in 2021 they finally have enough results (carbon dating) to support the original hopes and claims?

Nope.

it's a hoax.

Per Homer, Troy was burned to the ground. Complete rubble. The horse was wood. It would not have left any imprint in the rubble.

originally posted by: Byrd

originally posted by: MindBodySpiritComplex
While it seems too good to be true and I haven't read the articles... could it be that the original discovery dates back to 2014 and now in 2021 they finally have enough results (carbon dating) to support the original hopes and claims?

Nope.

it's a hoax.

Per Homer, Troy was burned to the ground. Complete rubble. The horse was wood. It would not have left any imprint in the rubble.

Indeed. Something I should have remembered considering I have read Homer's accounts of the Trojan war.

Live and learn.

Real or hoax, this is the kind of stuff I use to come here for.

originally posted by: Byrd
Per Homer, Troy was burned to the ground. Complete rubble. The horse was wood. It would not have left any imprint in the rubble.

Maybe they moved the Horse out of the city before then. Although I can also imagine them pulling it apart and using the wood for some other purpose. Waste not, want not.