{{comic
| number = 3098
| date = June 4, 2025
| title = Trojan Horse
| image = trojan_horse_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x196px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Ultimately, history would imperfectly record the story of the Foal of Troy.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a BABY BOT INSIDE A BOT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic presents a brief retelling of the {{w|Trojan Horse}} story, the climactic event of the legendary {{w|Trojan War}}, one of the best-known epics of ancient Greece and Rome.

The joke, spelled out in the title text, is that the Trojan Horse story's origin is mundane. The gift to the Trojans by the (supposedly) departing Greek army, we are told, was a normal-sized, living, pregnant mare, which promptly dropped a foal. "History" expanded the tale until the live, normal-sized, pregnant mare became a colossal wooden statue that "dropped" a commando unit of some 40 Greek soldiers, who opened the gates of Troy to the main Greek force (who had sailed back under the cover of darkness), with disastrous consequences for Troy. The name of the event became transmuted (for the purposes of a pun) from the "Foal of Troy" to the "Fall of Troy". Fall (πτώση) and Foal (πουλάρι) begin with the same letter in Greek and are spelled even more similarly, as well as being near {{w|homophone}}s, in English.

The debate in the comic, about the mission of the "Foal of Troy" and its impact on the city, reflects the debate in the Trojan Horse legend about the purpose of the horse statue and whether it was safe to accept it. The consequence of accepting the "Foal of Troy", a minor assault on the city's oat store, is accepted with indignation in the comic. In the legend, the potential consequences of accepting the horse statue were rejected or ignored until after it was too late. This is the etymology that caused the story to lend its name to the act of trying to smuggle something unwanted past people's notice by hiding it within something larger and more innocuous, particularly {{w|Trojan horse (computing)|computer malware}}.

It is not made clear whether the gifter of the horse knew of/suspected the pregnancy or whether they'd have even chosen to hand it over under different circumstances. However, it is consistent with the story, and with the {{w|Beware_of_Greeks_bearing_gifts|"Greeks bearing gifts" trope}} that originated with it, that the Greeks intentionally gifted a gravid mare to annoy the (in the "mundane" version otherwise victorious) Trojans. Surprise foals, where a mare is purchased with a hitherto unknown pregnancy, actually occur. The pregnancy is typically excused as mundane weight gain, up until the point where a foal is discovered with its mother in the morning. Horses with rounder builds, like some pony breeds, are known for maintaining undetected pregnancies. The reason a surprise foal might be salient for the comic, beyond the "Foal of Troy" pun, is the non-trivial costs of horse ownership, which can amount to hundreds or thousands of dollars per month.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[A horse is facing Cueball and Ponytail, who are standing in front of an entrance below a tower.]
:[In an inset panel, Cueball is talking to Megan and Hairy.]
:Cueball: When the Greeks departed, they left behind a horse as a gift.

:[Hairbun is standing behind a horse, with Cueball standing in front.]
:We took it as a gesture of peace, but it carried a secret payload.

:[A smaller horse is standing behind the horse from previous panel, which is looking behind at it.]
:One night, from within the horse, '''''another, smaller horse emerged!'''''

:[Close-up on Cueball.]
:Cueball: Our guards have been unable to determine the inner horse's objective, but it has begun to show an interest in our oats.
:Off-panel voice 1: An attack on Troy's food supply!
:Off-panel voice 2: How ''dare'' they!?

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Food]]