Wonder of the Day #938
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LANGUAGE ARTS — Literature
Have You Ever Wondered...
- What is a Trojan horse?
- What epic poem contains the story of the Trojan horse?
- What might a modern-day Trojan horse look like?
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- Aeneid,
- ancient,
- battle,
- computer,
- cultures of the world,
- deceive,
- deception,
- disguise,
- fake,
- Greece,
- Greek,
- history,
- horse,
- language,
- malware,
- myth,
- Odysseus,
- technology,
- trick,
- Trojan,
- Troy,
- Virgil,
- war
Today's Wonder of the Day takes us on a trip way back to the time of the Trojan War. As told in Virgil's Aeneid, a famous epic poem, the Greeks had tried to conquer the ancient city of Troy and the Trojan people who lived there for over 10 years.
They finally succeeded, thanks to a devious bit of trickery. The Greeks, under the guidance of Odysseus, built a huge wooden horse — the horse was the symbol of the city of Troy — and left it at the gates of Troy. They then pretended to sail away.
The Trojans believed the huge wooden horse was a peace offering to their gods and thus a symbol of their victory after a long siege. They pulled the giant wooden horse into the middle of the city.
They didn't realize that the Greeks had hidden a select group of soldiers inside the horse. That night, after the Trojans had gone to bed, the Greek soldiers inside the horse were able to get out and open the gates of the city to let in the remainder of the Greek army, which had sailed back under the cover of night.
Taking the Trojans by surprise in the middle of the night, the Greeks were able finally to conquer Troy. Today, the term “Trojan horse" is still used to refer to any kind of deception or trick that involves getting a target willingly to allow an enemy into a secure place.
The Trojan horse is also the source of the nickname “Trojans" for computer programs — called malware — that can infect computer systems. Many of these harmful programs appear to be useful or merely harmless programs. In this way, they convince users to install and run them, not realizing what harm they can do once they're installed.
Wonder What's Next?
Even an apple a day won’t keep tomorrow’s Wonder of the Day away!
Try It Out
Would you fall for the old Trojan horse trick today? Probably not…especially if you had some good friends and family members by your side! Round up a few of those to help you check out one or more of the following activities:
- Do you like reading the ancient Greek myths? It's amazing how much of today's popular culture, including old sayings, come from these old stories. Jump online and have some fun today reading through Some Great Greek Myths! Which are your favorites? Why? Can you identify any old sayings or modern pop culture references that got their start in an ancient Greek myth?
- Would a Trojan horse work today? What do you think? If you received a giant wooden horse on your doorstep, wouldn't you be just a wee bit suspicious? Probably! But what type of gift might you readily receive? If you opened your door and found a…what? A video game console? A new cell phone? A life-size model of your favorite pop star? What would it take for you to open your arms and welcome it into your house? Of course, such items wouldn't hold an army. But what could they hold? A listening device? A hidden video camera? A super-secret brain scanner from the future? Yikes! Think about what a Trojan horse might look like today and write a short story explaining how it might work. When you're finished, post your story to Facebook for all your Wonder Friends to read. We can't wait to see how creative you are!
- Up for a challenge? The National Science Center (NSC) has created a fun game to help children of all ages learn about cyber security, including how to recognize malware and not fall prey to computer “trojans." Do you surf the web, use email, or use cell phones? Then learn to stay safe with NSC Cyber Security tactics. Test your skill against Cyber Swarm! Use Defenders to stop them in their tracks! These guys mean business when it comes to messing with cyber security. Learn how to beat them at their own game.
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Wonder Words
- secure
- epic
- infect
- install
- deception
- device
- suspicious
- conquer
- ancient
- devious
- trickery
- guidance
- malware
- console
- Trojan
- siege
- scenario
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