Origin of the Saying Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts

Origin of the Saying Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts Background The adage Beware of Greeks bearing gifts is heard often, and is normally used to refer to an act of charity that masks a hidden destructive or hostile agenda. But its not widely known that the phrase originates with a story from Greek mythologyspecifically the story of the Trojan War, in which the Greeks, led by Agamemnon, sought to rescue Helen, who had been taken to Troy after falling in love with Paris. This tale forms the core of Homers famous epic poem, The Illiad.   The Episode of the Trojan Horse We pick up the  story at a point near the  end of the  ten-year long Trojan War. Since both the Greeks and the Trojans had gods on their sides, and since the greatest warriors for both sidesAchilles, for the Greeks, and Hector for the Trojanswere now dead, the sides were very evenly matched, with no sign that the war might end soon. Despair reigned on both sides.   However, the Greeks had the cunning of Odysseus on their side. Odysseus,  King of Ithaca, devised the idea of constructing a large horse to pose as a peace offering to the Trojans. When this  Trojan Horsewas left at the gates of Troy, the Trojans believed  the  Greeks had left it as a pious surrender  gift as they sailed for home. Welcoming the gift, the Trojans opened their  gates and wheeled the horse within their walls, little knowing the belly of the beast was filled with armed soldiers who would soon destroy their city. A celebratory  victory festival ensued, and once the Trojans had fallen into a drunken slumber, the Greeks emerged from the horse and vanquished them. Greek cleverness won the day over Trojan warrior skill.   How the Phrase Came into Use The Roman Poet Virgil eventually coined the phrase Be wary of Greeks bearing gifts, putting it into the mouth of the character Laocoon in the Aeneid, an epic retelling of the legend of the  Trojan War.  The Latin phrase is  Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes , which literally translated means  I fear the Danaans [Greeks], even those  bearing gifts, but it is usually translated in English as Beware (or be wary) of Greeks bearing gifts. It is from Virgils  poetic retelling of the story that we get this well-known phrase.   The adage is now used regularly as a warning when a supposed gift or act of virtue is thought to hold a hidden threat.