Sack of Troy/Definition

In Greek mythology, the ancient city of Troy in Asia Minor was subjected to a ten year siege by the expeditionary forces of Greece led by Agamemnon and with illustrious warriors such as Achilles, Menelaus, Odysseus, Ajax, and many others, pitted against the heroes of Troy, including Hector and, by one account in the Aeneid, Aeneas. A strategem of using a Trojan horse to deceive the city's defenders enabled Greek warriors, hiding inside the supposed wooden offering to the gods, opened the gates at night to enable returning Greek marines to burn the city in an unexpected nighttime attack. The war is recounted in the Iliad and Odyssey and numerous plays by tragedians including Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles.