Haiku

Sibili serpens
implicavunt Laocoonum,
et tum depascunt.

Sinon's Story

Sinon's story was a big factor into tricking the Trojans into accepting the wooden horse, Ajax. Certain elements made it believable. One of which was how he put small facts into his lie. One of the truths was the background story of Palamedes, a general who was put to death for treason. He explained some background story of the war which the Trojans were already familiar with. Also, he included how Apollo wanted him as a sacrifice, even after he gained the vigin sacifice he required in order to let them go into battle. Again, the Trojans already knew of these details, so it made the story seem to have enough truths to make it believable. Sinon also used the fact that Odysseus was known to be a very tricky man, and made him be the bad guy of the story. This would help him gain the pity points he would need from the Trojan, who fought again him.
Another way that Sinon's story was effective on the Trojans was that he included the Goddess, Minerva, in his story. He claimed that the wooden horse was made as a gift to her, and if the Trojans were to do any damage to it, as Laocoon had, then terrible things would happen. However, if they accepted the horse, then they might have good things bestowed on them. By using their beliefs against him, Sinon was able to, perhaps, scare the Trojans into taking in the horse. Since Laocoon had been eaten by snakes afterword, it was the final event that made Sinon's story effective and encouraged the Trojans enough to take in the horse.