Trojan Horse

Odysseus, Menelaus and Agamemnon crouched behind the tidal rocks and observed the gates of Troy across the battle-plain. An enormous statue of a horse stood almost within bowshot of Troy's walls. It was a simple affair, unpainted and worked with poor artistry, but at sixty feet tall its scale alone was awe-inspiring. The statue stood on a platform supported by many crude wooden wheels.

"Now what?" grunted Agamemnon, squinting at the city. He was nearsighted and was too proud to admit that he couldn't really see what was going on.

"Now we wait," said Odysseus. He removed the brass tube from his eye and clapped its telescoping bits shut.

"What exactly is that thing?" asked Menelaus.

"It's a spyglass. I invented it," answered Odysseus.

"Oh," said Agamemnon. "What's it do?"

"It's a glass for spying," said the Ithacan. Somehow, via superhuman effort, he kept himself from rolling his eyes. These Achaeans – brave and fierce beyond comparison, but they couldn't think their way out of a papyrus bag.

Agamemnon took the telescope, opened it, and looked through the wrong end. Odysseus turned it around, and the Mycenaean king grunted with surprise. "Ah!" he said, peering everywhere. "So."
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