Achilles is killed by a flukey arrow to the heel and Odysseus has a plan for a secret weapon to end the war - a wooden horse.
Synopsis:
The Old Soldier returns to the prophecy that Achilles will be killed at Troy by Paris. Achilles's mother dipped him in the River Styx as a child and it is this which protects him. But she held him by the heel and Paris lets go a flukey arrow which just happens to hit Achilles's heel.
Achilles dies and the Greeks are down to their last hero: Odysseus. However, Odysseus has a plan. He calls a meeting of the Greek chiefs and explains that they will build an enormous wooden horse which they will place outside the gates of Troy as 'a leaving present', while the whole Greek army pretends to depart. Only inside the hollow horse will be a group of the fiercest Greek warriors…
…a big head and a wee, sticky-out tail!
The Soldier on the horse
See Resources below for a quiz about the story episode.
Resources
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More episodes from Ancient Greece: The Trojan War
Episode 4. video
Achilles is refusing to fight and sends cousin Patroclus into battle wearing the hero's armour.
Episode 5
Patroclus is slain by Hector and Achilles returns to the battle seeking vengeance.
Episode 7
The Greeks leave the wooden horse outside the gates of Troy: the Trojans believe they have won the war.
