Sinon
Greek soldier who volunteered to stay behind at Troy and convince the Trojans to accept the wooden horse.
The Legend of Sinon
He was the greatest liar in the Trojan War — and that is saying something in a conflict involving Odysseus. Sinon allowed himself to be captured and told the Trojans a fabricated story: that the Greeks had left, that Athena was angry with them, and that the wooden horse was an offering. Even Priam believed him. When Laocoon tried to warn the Trojans and was killed by sea serpents, Sinon's lie seemed confirmed by the gods themselves. That night, Sinon opened the horse and signalled the Greek fleet with a torch. Virgil portrays him as Odysseus's protege — cunning, tearful, and utterly without conscience.
Parents
Aesimus
Symbols
Fun Fact
Dante placed Sinon in the eighth circle of Hell alongside other fraudsters.
Explore Further
Odysseus
🗡 heroMan of many wiles
Odysseus was the most cunning of all Greek heroes — the man of polytropos (many turns), whose intelligence rather than strength defined a new kind of heroism.
Wooden Horse
💭 conceptdeception
The hollow wooden horse built by Epeius on Athena's design that concealed Greek warriors and ended the Trojan War.
Odysseus
🗡 heroKing of Ithaca, hero of the Trojan War
The cleverest of the Greek heroes, whose ten-year journey home from Troy is one of the greatest stories ever told. Odysseus's cunning was his greatest weapon.
Laocoon
🗡 heroTrojan priest who warned against the horse
Laocoon was the Trojan priest who tried to warn Troy about the Wooden Horse — "I fear Greeks even bearing gifts" — and was killed by sea serpents sent by the gods.
Echepolos
🗡 heroWealth, horse breeding
Wealthy Greek who bribed Agamemnon with a fine mare to avoid serving at Troy
Laomedon
🗡 herotreachery
King of Troy who cheated both Apollo and Poseidon of their wages and set the pattern of Trojan oath-breaking.
Jason
🗡 heroLeader of the Argonauts
The hero who assembled the Argonauts and sailed to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece, aided by Medea's sorcery.
Anteia
🗡 heroDesire, false accusation
Queen of Tiryns who falsely accused Bellerophon of assault, setting in motion his legendary trials
Laocoon
🗡 heroprophecy
Trojan priest of Apollo who warned against the wooden horse and was killed with his sons by sea serpents.
Pandarus
🗡 heroArchery, treachery
Trojan archer from Lycia who broke the truce between Greeks and Trojans by wounding Menelaus
Sthenelus the Argive
🗡 heroEpigoni, Trojan War, Chariotry
Son of Capaneus, member of the Epigoni, and Diomedes' charioteer and closest companion at Troy.
Idomeneus
🗡 heroKing of Crete at Troy
Idomeneus was the king of Crete who led eighty ships to Troy and was among the fiercest fighters — his story continued in a vow that cost him his son.