What would you do if the 3 most beautiful women in all of Greek mythology would do anything for you just to give them a trophy saying they’re the fairest? Zeus didn’t want this burden knowing that he would get in trouble from whoever he didn’t award the prize to, so he gave it to Paris. Paris is the son of Priam, the kind of Troy. Paris is portrayed as an unskilled and cowardly being. Where did the trophy come from? Who won the contest of the fairest and how? What does this have to do with the Trojan War?
On Mount Olympus one day in Greek Mythology, there was a celebration held for the marriage of Peleus and Thetis. Zeus hosted a banquet to honor the newly wedded couple in hopes of a long loving marriage. Every deity and demi-god was invited. All except one that is, Eris (the goddess of strife) was not invited. No one wanted a hellion at the wedding. When she received word that everyone except her had been invited she wanted revenge. She threw a golden ‘Apple of Discord’ into the party. On this apple there was an engraved Greek phrase “For the fairest”. They went to Zeus to ask who he thought deserved the Apple of Discord; he wanted no part in this dispute.
Zeus assigned Paris the task off deciding who was the fairest of the three goddesses. Paris gladly accepted this request, knowing they will be as seductive to him as they can to win the apple. The three goddesses are Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite because they were thought to be the most beautiful. There were certain things he had the goddesses do to make them appealing to him, such as appear before him naked. Still, Paris could not decide, they were all equally beautiful. Since he could not make such a decision they had no other choice but to bribe him for the award. Athena offered skill in battle, wisdom and the abilities of the greatest warriors; Hera offered ownership of all of Europe and Asia, Aphrodite offered the love of the most beautiful woman on Earth, Helen of Sparta. Paris chose Aphrodite, and also Helen.
Aphrodite however, forgot to mention a rather critical fact to Paris about him having the love of Helen. Helen was already married to King Menelaus of Sparta. In order to get his prized Helen he had to raid Menelaus’s home to take Helen away from the king of Sparta. Some stories indicate, however, she fell totally in love with Paris and left Menelaus willingly. So began the Greeks’ journey to escort Helen back home, away from Paris. This is the mythological foundation of the Trojan War’s beginning. All of Greece moved against Troy with fury and hatred. The Trojan War had begun.
In conclusion, Zeus was presented with a challenge of presenting the most beautiful goddess of Greek Mythology an apple with an engraved phrase ‘For the fairest”. Three incredibly stunning goddess’s claimed the apple for their own, when they asked Zeus who should get the apple he denied to answer that knowing if he picked one the other two would hate him. He assigned Paris the judge of this beauty contest. He could not come to a conclusion resulting in the goddess’s bribing him. He took Aphrodite’s bribe for the love of Helen the most beautiful woman on Earth. Helen was married, her husband Menelaus was furious with this. The Greeks went to battle with Troy, thus starting the Trojan War.
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