Before Paris went to Troy to retrieve his bull, the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite had visited him while he was watching his flocks on Mount Ida. They came to settle the challenge Eris had issued at the wedding of Peleus, son of Aeacus, king of Aegina, and the Nereid Thetis. Eris, goddess of discord, had not been invited to the event, so she appeared at the wedding to create disharmony among the guests. Into the midst of the wedding guests she rolled a golden apple inscribed with a single line: “To the Fairest.” Three of the guests—Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite—all claimed the apple but could not agree to whom it should belong. Neither Zeus nor any other immortal wanted to judge which of these three powerful deities was the fairest. Eventually Zeus instructed Hermes, messenger of the gods, to descend to the earth and appoint a mortal judge.
Hermes selected Paris to make this difficult decision.
Each of the goddesses appeared before Paris and offered him a gift to win his favor. Hera offered him rule over all men, Athena offered wisdom and victory in battle, and
Below: The Judgment of Paris by Italian artist Sandro Botticelli (1445—1510). Despite the offers of gifts made to him by the goddesses Hera and Athena, the Trojan prince hands the golden apple of Eris to Aphrodite, goddess of love. Hera and Athena look on.
Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife. One version of the myth recounts that Aphrodite also offered Paris the quality of powerful sexual attraction. Paris chose Aphrodite, either for her beauty or for the gift she had to offer.
World History
