Beware the Greeks bearing gifts

It is best not to remind one’s Greek friends of this saying, especially at Christmastime. It is, however, a very old saying not widely used these days that means do not trust your enemies and be wary of apparent concessions from them. The allusion of course is to the classical ruse de guerre employed by the Greeks to bring about the downfall of Troy. After a long ten-year siege, the Greeks pretended to sail away and left the Trojans a gigantic wooden horse as a gift. Unbeknown to the Trojans, the horse was full of Greek soldiers. After it had been taken within the walls of the city, the Greeks emerged from the wooden horse at night and opened the gates of the city to their army, which had returned stealthily. It derives from Virgil’s epic poem The Aeneid (19 BC) Book II, 49, “timeo Danaos et dona ferentes” “I fear the Greeks, even when bearing gifts”.