"TELL ME, O MUSE, of that ingenious hero who travelled far
and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy." So
begins The Odyssey.
You are Odysseus, wily master of land-ways and seaways, king
of the island state of Ithaca, husband of Penelope and father of
your only child and son Telemachus, he who has never met
you.
Ten long years ago, when Telemachus was still but a suckling
babe, away you sailed with twelve heavily-manned ships, your
kingdom's contribution to the siege of Troy, to fight the long
Trojan Wars on the sands before the walls of the City of Troy.
There followed ten long weary years of battle, battle that
decimated the armies of the Greeks and the Trojans both. Yet still
the walled City of Troy withstood the Greeks' siege.
Finally, in one last effort to end the war, it was you, O
wily Odysseus, master of land-ways and seaways, who cunningly
conceived of a plan that could finally break the proud City of
Troy.
The Trojan Horse
And so there came a night when, from high atop the protecting
walls of Troy, the Trojan sentinels saw many fires suddenly spring
ablaze in the dark on the coastal plains before them. And the
following morning, as Dawn put forth her fingertips of rose, they
learned that they had witnessed the burning of the tents of the
departing Greek armies.
So the City of Troy awoke to find the sands before their city
walls empty of the besieging Greek host, empty of all signs of the
Greeks save for the ashes of their burnt tents.
Empty, that is, except for one very curious thing: a
magnificent giant wooden horse!
It was Helen herself, she whose face had launched a thousand
ships ten years ago when she left Sparta and Menelaus (her lawful
husband) by fleeing with Paris to the stout walls of Paris's City
of Troy, Helen who encircled the magnificent wooden horse from
below, calling out to the Greek captains whom she suspected to be
hidden therein, slyly and accurately imitating the voices of the
wives of those Greek captains in an attempt to trick them into
revealing themselves.
Yet all the while she spoke, silently stood there the wooden
horse.
And then after some debate did the Trojans bring their prize,
the Greek wooden horse, within the walls of the City of
Troy.
This the Trojans did despite the dire warnings of Cassandra,
she who had received the gift of Foresight from Apollo and who knew
what the Fates held in store for Troy's future. But alas for
Cassandra, her tongue had also been cursed earlier with Disbelief
by Apollo as a consequence of her spurning his amorous advances:
Apollo's curse was such that those who heard Cassandra's words did
not believe her.
And so the wooden horse was brought within the City's walls,
accompanied with much feasting, drinking and rejoicing by the
triumphant and war-weary Trojans throughout the day and into the
night as they celebrated their victorious ending of the long Trojan
War.
O wily Odysseus, how will this gift of the wooden horse help you
to defeat the walled City of Troy that has withstood ten years of
siege?
This cache contains one of the clues needed to find the puzzle
cache Tales of Odysseus: The Return of the King. The clue is
at the back of the logbook. This cache begins the series and is
followed next by Cyclops Polythemus
In The Odyssey, the tale of The Trojan Horse is briefly
alluded to in Book IV (when Menelaus and Helen entertain
Telemachus) and Book VIII (when Odysseus is a guest of the
Phaeacians).
Enjoy! And happy caching!
O wily 50sumtin!
And now, the tale's end ...
And so the giant wooden horse was brought within the city's
walls and the citizens of Troy slept deeply following their raucous
celebrations.
And so it was that during their deep sleep that, you, O wily
Odysseus, you and your brave men dropped out from the bowels of the
hollow Trojan Horse wherein you lay hidden! To the city's gates you
ran! And the city's gates you opened! And then rushed in the Greek
army that had returned silently in the dark of the night to attack
the city by surprise! And finally it was you, O brave Odysseus, who
led the sack and the pillage of the proud City of Troy!
Cache owner's note:
For some months I have toyed with the idea of placing a series
of caches along the scenic Pacific coast north of Santa Cruz, each
of which would be in a scenic location near the ocean and would
also contain a clue for an overall connecting puzzle cache. And
while walking the coast at Wilder Ranch one day and taking in the
breath-taking scenic views, the Muses inspired me to make the
connecting theme for the series the adventures of Odysseus as told
in The Odyssey, as so much if not all of his homeward voyage
adventures occurred along coastal settings.
As of April 15, 2007, all of the caches associated with the
Tales of Odysseus series (including the puzzle cache) have
been placed.
I hope that you will find the series entertaining and enjoyable,
but if not at least scenic.
This particular cache will treat you to scenic views of Scott Creek
Beach, recently deeded to the California State Parks. While there
are cliffs nearby, the cache is sufficiently away from them as to
pose little danger while seeking in good visibility. Still, I do
not recommend seeking this cache during periods of dense coastal
fog.
You may park at the beach parking and make your way up to the
cache. I parked at the turn out along northbound Highway One and
crossed the road from there. Beware of high-speed traffic if you
choose this approach.