The Judgement of Paris

The Golden Apple of Discord

The goddess of quarrel and strife was Eris. She was sister and companion of murderous Ares, the Greek  god of war and daughter of Nyx (Night). Unhappy and displeased that she was not invited to the wedding ceremony of Peleus (the king of the island of Aegina) and Thetis (the sea-nymph), Eris felt pushed aside and soon came up with a cunning plan in revenge for not being invited

The feast was attended by most of the Olympian Gods. Eris’ idea was to ‘forget’ a golden apple in the great banquet. That apple carried an inscription: “TO THE FAIREST” (ΤΗ ΚΑΛΛΙΣΤΗΙ). Eris knew that her shiny apple would quickly draw attention.

Yes, that was all she had to do. Soon, three goddesses at the wedding were fascinated by the golden apple and wanted it for themselves. Aphrodite, Athena and Hera immediately competed for it. They asked the other Greek Gods who should own it, but they proved smart and they chose not to interfere. They immediately smelled trouble. What was the point? If they chose one, then the other two goddesses would probably hold this against them. It sure was a hard call so the Gods agreed that Paris, being the most handsome mortal, should be the judge.

Everyone was happy with this solution and the gods were very pleased. Paris had a difficult task laying ahead. Athena, Hera and Aphrodite stripped naked in front of Paris and each goddess offered him an appealing gift trying to win his decision.

• Athena tried to tempt him offering infinite wisdom.
• Hera promised him absolute power over great kingdoms.
• Aphrodite offered him the love of the most beautiful woman on earth, Helen.

Deal-maker! Paris made his choice

As you know, Paris gave the golden apple tot he Goddess of Love, Aphrodite. Spoiler alert: This decision would soon lead to the outbreak of one of the most famous wars ever, the Trojan War… And the fall of Troy would later lead to the foundation of Rome!

All this, for an apple.