Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes is a Latin phrase from Aeneid (II, 49). It has been paraphrased in English as the aphorism "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts", though its literal meaning, "I fear the Greeks, even those bearing gifts", carries a somewhat different nuance to the usual English representation of the phrase.

Origin

As related in the Aeneid, after a nine-year war on the beaches of Troy between the Danaans (Greeks from the mainland) and the Trojans, the Greek seer Calchas induces the leaders of the Greek army to offer the Trojan people a huge wooden horse, the so-called Trojan Horse, while seemingly departing. The Trojan priest Laocoön, distrusting this gesture, warns the Trojans not to accept the gift, crying, Equo ne credite, Teucri! Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis. ("Do not trust the horse, Trojans! Whatever it is, I fear the Danaans, even when bringing gifts.") When immediately afterward Laocoön and his two sons are viciously slain by enormous twin serpents, the Trojans assume the horse has been offered at Minerva's (Athena's) prompting and interpret Laocoön's death as a sign of her displeasure. Minerva did send the serpents and help to nurture the idea of building the horse, but her intentions were certainly not peaceful, as the deceived Trojans imagined them to be. The Trojans agree unanimously to place the horse atop wheels and roll it through their impenetrable walls. Festivities follow under the assumption that the war is ended. The scout who has been sent to verify the departure of the Greeks is killed after he discovers the Greek fleet hiding in an obscure harbor.

Translations

Although the commonly used form of this quotation has ferentēs (with a long ē), the original text has ferentīs (with a long ī). The "-ēs" form is more common in classical Latin.

In most cases the Latin word et is used as a conjunction, meaning "and", but in this phrase et is used as an adverb, meaning "even".

In popular culture

In Asterix the Legionary, Romans use this phrase to expand unnecessarily "T as in Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes?" whenever they talk to the duo about the lost legionary Tragicomix.

In the movie The Rock, John Mason (played by Sean Connery) responds to an offer of freedom by the FBI in exchange for his cooperation to help free captives on Alcatraz by saying, "Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes." Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) responds with the translation, "I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts." Mason says, "Ah, an educated man," and when Goodspeed responds with a modest wave of the hand, Mason adds, "That, of course, rules out the possibility of you being a field agent."

In the British comedy series Yes Minister it is used by Bernard Woolley in the episode The Bed of Nails in which Hacker unwisely accepts the role of 'Transport Supremo' with a view to developing and 'Integrated Transport' policy for the UK.

The phrase is often loosely translated into English as "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts", which has then been parodied as "Beware of geeks bearing gifts".