# W explained — Bulfinch’s Mythology

> Chapter companion for Bulfinch’s Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch.

## What happens

This chapter provides brief definitions and mythological references for terms beginning with the letter 'W', including the constellation Wain, the Rhine-daughters Wellgunda and Woglinda, the Norse god Woden (Odin), the story of the Wooden Horse at Troy, and the Old High German form Wotan.

## Themes in this chapter

### Heroism and the Quest

The Wooden Horse stratagem exemplifies the cunning and risk-taking central to heroic quests.

## Character check-ins

### Odin

Referenced as Woden, the chief god in Norse mythology, and as Wotan in Old High German.

## Key lines

> Wooden Horse (Wooden Horse), the, filled with armed men, but left outside of Troy as a pretended offering to Minerva when the Greeks feigned to sail away; accepted by the Trojans (see Sinon and Laocoön ), brought into the city, and at night emptied of the hidden Greek soldiers, who destroyed the town.

The Greeks built a large wooden horse, hid soldiers inside, and left it at Troy as a false gift to Minerva. The Trojans brought it into the city, and at night the Greek soldiers emerged and destroyed Troy.

_This summarizes the famous Trojan Horse stratagem._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/w
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters