The Trojan War > The Return of the Greek Hero Odysseus
Odysseus soon devised a way to end the Trojan War -- the erection of a giant wooden horse filled with Achaean (Greek) men to be left at the gates of Troy. The Trojans had noticed Achaean ships sailing away earlier that day and thought the giant horse was a peace (or sacrificial) offering from the Achaeans. Rejoicing, they opened the gates and led the horse into their city. Then, after 10 years of privations for the sake of the war, the Trojans brought out their equivalent of champagne. They feasted, drank hard, and fell asleep. During the night, the Achaeans stationed inside the horse opened the trap door, crept down, opened the gates, and let in their countrymen who had only pretended to slip away. The Achaeans then torched Troy, killing the men and taking the women prisoner. Helen, now middle aged, but still a beauty, was reunited with her husband Menelaus.
So ended the Trojan War and so began the Achaean leaders' torturous and mostly deadly trips home, some of which are told in the sequel to The Iliad, The Odyssey, which is also attributed to Homer.
Agamemnon got his comeuppance at the hand of his wife Clytemnestra and her lover, Agamemnon's cousin Aegisthus.
