At nightfall the city gates closed and the festivities ended. The citizens of Troy staggered home, tired from drink and dance. A few looked over their shoulders one last time at the hulking wooden horse.

In the deepest dark, the belly of the beast hinged open, and out stole the Greeks with hammers, axes and saws. They immediately set to work.

Dawn soon broke on the city gate, open once more, and a ceaseless stream of wooden horses poured through the countryside, toward the neighboring towns.