The Trojan horse is widely believed to be a stylization of an earthquake. Poseidon was in times gone by Potei-da-on, literally Earth�s husband, and as such a chthonic power. His association with the sea came because he was lord of subterranean waters (Greeks believed that earthquakes were caused by Poseidon�s horses galloping underneath the earth). As a fertility/chthonic god, he was naturally associated with horses (he mated with Demeter in Arcadia under the guise of a horse, and she had by him a divine horse called Areion). An earthquake probably made the walls of Troy tumble to the ground, and Greek mythical thinking interpreted that it had been Poseidon�s doing. And Poseidon�s symbol is the horse, which also caused earthquakes. Full circle, I guess. Another version claims that the horse was actually a battering ram shaped as a horse, like the hittite ones.
Regards, Miryam (who is a hellenist and it sometimes does come in handy!) > > > > Fellow subscribers, > > I asked my professor the other week why did the Greeks build a huge > > horse; > > why not a huge statue of Niki or some other figure? He researched and came > > up with that this was a good figure for a seige engine. I still want to > > know if their is some significance in a horse,like the sign given by Juno > > that a spirited head of a horse would mark the foundation for Carthage. Is > > there a reason to be found as to why the "Trojan Horse"? Why not another > > image? Somewhere there must be a little something that explains why a > > horse? Did the Trojans rever horses? > > Curious and must be more than a good model for a > > seige engine, > > > > > > Kimber > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. > > Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message > > "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You > > can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. > Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message > "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You > can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub -- ************************************************************************ "Dile al rey que la casa bellamente construida est� derrumbada, Apolo Febo ya no tiene morada, el sagrado laurel est� marchito. Sus fuentes callan para siempre, y ha enmudecido el murmullo del agua." -362 A.D.- ************************************************************************* ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
