Have you ever heard anybody refer to something as a Trojan horse?  What they are typically trying to convey is that although something appears to be good it is actually evil in nature.  Have you ever wondered where this term came from?  There are people that have researched this story for many years.  Although it has its roots in mythology and ancient Greek religious text, it still may be able to be of some benefit to us today.  Here is a little bit of history about the story of the Trojan horse and how it comes to be used in our day. 

According to mythology, the Greeks were at war with the city of Troy.  They had the city under siege for some 10 years but were unable to breach its walls.  This is an exceptionally long time for a city to be cut off from the rest of the world so it no doubt would seem impossible to the Greeks to be able to conquer it.  Someone came up with an interesting plan, however, on how they would be able to invade the city and overcome it.  They would build a huge hollow horse that was made out of wood and offer it to the city of Troy as a peace offering.  Unknown to the people that accepted this peace offering, the wooden horse was actually full of troops from Greece. 

So what happened to the other troops that were surrounding the city?  They were instructed to pull back to a safe distance and hide while the wooden horse was accepted into the city of Troy.  In this way they would be available to attack the city whenever they were given the opportunity.  The troops that were hidden inside the giant structure were pulled inside the city and the gate was shut.  Most people that lived inside the city of Troy accepted the horse as a peace offering and were very happy thinking that the war was finally over.  There were some, however, that looked at the strange gift with scrutiny and did not believe that the Greeks actually wanted peace after so long of a siege. 

Even though there was some doubt as to the Greek's sincerity, the city still started to celebrate their supposedly newfound peace.  They had a huge celebration in which most of them fell into a drunken stupor.  At this time the troops that were hidden inside the horse emerged and opened the gate.  When the gate was open the troops that had fallen back into a hidden position emerged and entered the city.  Every man inside the city was killed and the women and children were taken into captivity as slaves. 

That is where the term Trojan horse came from.  Although it is not a factual situation it still teaches us a valuable lesson.  Do not judge a book by its cover.  It is not always true that something given to you is as it seems, so you should always look at such things with scrutiny so as to see what is truly behind it.