# Would the Trojan Horse Have Been Anatomically Correct? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2002, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223 "2002-11-18T00:01:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223/1 "2002-11-18T00:01:59Z")
There was a joking comment made about this on _Car Talk_, but now I’m wondering. Of course, no one was able to take a photograph of the horse, when it was around, but given that the Greeks weren’t shy about nudity, I’d think that it was possible that they might have made the horse anatomically correct. Then, of course there’s the question: Did they build it as a stallion, mare, or gelding? Any theories on this out there? ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223/2 "2002-11-18T01:01:12Z")
The story of the Trojan Horse was told to us by Homer. In the story, the same guy explained that the war started when a goddess (Aphrodite) won a beauty contest judged by Paris, son of the King of Troy. As a reward, Aphrodite gave Paris the “most beautiful woman in the world” - Helen. Trouble was, she was already married to this Greek guy, who wasn’t best pleased etc. etc. Hence the war. Homer told us lots of things – “If something’s hard to do, then it’s not worth doing!”, “It takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen” and “Everything looks bad if you remember it”, to name but three. But he never told us whether it was a boy horse or a girl horse. Doh! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223/3 "2002-11-18T01:30:35Z")
I nominate this as the most ridiculous question I’ve read in GQ. Of COUSE it was anatomically correct, why else would it be a TROJAN? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223/4 "2002-11-18T03:19:17Z")
Now I’m wondering exactly how the soldiers exited the horse… ---
**Author:** ![TomWaits4You](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@TomWaits4You](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomWaits4You)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223/5 "2002-11-18T03:34:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Smeghead \* > \*\*Now I’m wondering exactly how the soldiers exited the horse… \*\* I’m guessing the world’s first water slide. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223/6 "2002-11-18T03:50:03Z")
Thanks for setting me straight. I always thought the reference was to Trojan whores. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223/7 "2002-11-18T07:12:04Z")
Dang! I was gonna make that trojan crack! Seriously, I imagine they wouldn’t have bothered to include genitalia. It’d be too much of a bother. I mean, doesn’t the story go that the greeks built it overnight from the hulls of their own ships? Probably wouldn’t have had the time anyway. Besides, it’s a war machine, even if it’s supposed to look like art. Also, if they had made it a stallion, I imagine they would have included a big ass condom to go with it. 😉 “Don’t forget your rubber!” ~Charles Goodyear ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223/8 "2002-11-18T07:24:08Z")
The story of the Trojan Horse actually comes from Book II of Virgil’s _The Aeneid_. Homer only touches upon it in _The Odyssey_. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223/9 "2002-11-18T11:28:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*The story of the Trojan Horse actually comes from Book II of Virgil’s _The Aeneid_. Homer only touches upon it in _The Odyssey_. \*\* Thanks for that, except that 1. _The Odyssey_ came first, 2. _The Aeneid_ doesn’t really describe the horse either, 3. Couldn’t think of a joke about Virgil. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223/10 "2002-11-18T12:31:49Z")
There are literary references and paintings of the Trojan Horse pre-Virgil, and, as noted, it is mentioned in **The Odyssey**. One intriguing possibility, mentioned previously on the SDMB, and in the book and PBS TV series **In Search of the Trojan War** , is that the story of the Trojan Horse actually recalls an early episode of siege machinery, with the Horse actually being a siege tower that was rolled toward Troy to attck the walls. Neat idea. The TV series \*\*The Odyssey[/V] showed the horse as built from the hulls of some of the Greek ships, which wouldn’t have been incompatible with the idea of a siege tower. In either case, showing the horse with male equipment wouldn’t have been necessary. On the other hand, considering that these were battle-hardened soldiers building this, it’s not unlikely that they lavished extra care on outsized male parts. Just for the record, I don’t know of any representation, ancient or modern, that shows marked sexual parts on the Horse. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223/11 "2002-11-18T12:51:01Z")
Cassandra lost a fair bit credibility on this point. ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223/12 "2002-11-18T17:01:53Z")
Well, it would allow you to fit one more soldier inside… ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-trojan-horse-have-been-anatomically-correct/137223/13 "2002-11-18T17:17:48Z")
The horse was just nuts about him.