According to Kim Shelton, a professor of Ancient Greek and Roman studies at the University of California, Berkeley, there have been many depictions of the Trojan horse myth, dating back to early Roman wall paintings from the 7th century BCE to medieval manuscripts.
“Since it is an object of myth and imagination there has never been a definitive version,” Shelton said. However, she noted it has often been depicted on wheels since ancient times.
Shelton prefers the version shown in Troy (2004), starring Brad Pitt, because its ramshackle design of blistered wood and ropes resembles something that might have been assembled from abandoned ships — the only material that would have been on hand.
The 2004 movie also shows the horse being transported into Troy on a series of rolling logs, rather than wheels attached to it.) And while “Troy” didn’t show any scenes from within the statue — and while Pitt’s character, Achilles, is among those hiding inside, despite dying before the siege in the original poem — Shelton feels the shots we do get of soldiers’ eyes lurking within conveyed “the perilous feel of being piled inside and trying not to be discovered.”
Compared to the 2004 version, Nolan’s horse appears much sleeker and more refined in its design and construction. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t hellish or claustrophobic for those inside — including the cast and crew.
Damon told GamesRadar+ that when he asked Nolan the day before they filmed the scene how he intended to do so, the director said they would effectively have to improvise. “It was a real lesson,” said Damon. “He goes, ‘We’re just going to cram in there and figure it out.’”
John Leguizamo, who plays the loyal and blind Eumaeus, was astonished he was to learn that Nolan and van Hoytema had climbed inside the horse with the 20 or so actors and an IMAX camera. “I couldn’t believe that. I was like, Wow, this man is a leader,” he said of Nolan. “This man is not going to ask anything of you that he doesn’t attempt himself.”
