THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS from the Iliad by Homer

The wedding of the sea nymph, Thetis, to the mortal king, Peleus, was set to be a lavish affair. Along with
the greatest kings of Ancient Greece, it was a wedding to be attended by all of the gods of Mount Olympus - all,
except for one. Fearing that she would inevitably cause some manner of disruption Eris, the Goddess of Strife and
Discord, was not invited to attend. When Eris put in an appearance anyway, she was quickly turned away.
Eris was clever, though - simply disrupting the wedding, herself, was not good enough for her. Instead, the
revenge that she planned was both subtle, and very simple. Travelling to the Garden of the Hesperides, an orchard
belonging to the goddess Hera, where golden apples capable of granting immortality grew, Eris plucked the largest
she could find from the branches of the tallest tree. On this apple, Eris inscribed the single word 'Kallistai', which
roughly translates to 'to the fairest'. Making her way back to the wedding ceremony, Eris tossed the apple into the
gathered throng of deities - then, fell back into the shadows to enjoy the result of her efforts.
Eris did not have to wait for long, of course. Upon seeing the apple, three goddesses immediately reached
forward to claim it - each believing that it was meant for them. They were Hera, the wife of Zeus and Queen of
Mount Olympus, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
With each believing that the golden apple was clearly theirs, the inevitable argument that ensued between
the three goddesses brought on abrupt halt to what had been a joyous wedding ceremony - just as Eris had
intended. Barely able to contain her own amusement, Eris slipped away before she was noticed. The three
goddesses, meanwhile, turned to Zeus, demanding that the king of Mount Olympus should decide who was most
deserving of the golden apple. For reasons which should be fairly obvious, though, Zeus found that this was
decision that he wanted no part of - so, instead, the rule of the gods sought to pass the responsibility off onto
someone else, by offering to find a fair and impartial judge.
Zeus's chosen judge was a young man called Paris - a shepherd who had already earned himself a
reputation for fairness. Previously, Paris had come to the attention of the gods of Mount Olympus when, upon
declaring one of his own bulls to be the finest in all of the world, he had found himself presented with a new bull
that was actually the god of war, Ares, in disguise. For Ares, this had simply been intended as a joke - yet, he was
still impressed when the one shepherd immediately recanted on his earlier boasting and declared that the
disguised deity made for a much finer specimen than his own.
It was for this reason that Zeus came to the conclusion that Paris would be the most capable of making a
fair and impartial decision between the three goddesses - and, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite agreed with this
decision. So, guided by the messenger god, Hermes, the three goddesses made their way to Mount Idea, where
they confronted Paris and demanded that he make his judgement.
Despite his best efforts, though, Paris soon found that he could not choose between them. Each was
beautiful, of course - but, their beauty was of such a different sort, that it proved impossible for Paris to fairly
measure one against the other.
In time, the three goddesses began to grow weary of waiting for Paris to make his final judgement - and so,
each approached him in secret, attempting to sway his decision in their favor. Hera offered to make Paris the king
of all of Europe and Asia, if he would declare her to the fairest of the three. Athena offered to grant him wisdom,
and the skills of the mightiest warriors of ancient Greece. Aphrodite offered him to the love of the most beautiful
mortal woman in all of the ancient world - Helen of Sparta, the wife of King Menelaus.
In the end, it was Aphrodite's promise that swayed Paris, and he presented the golden apple to her -
instantly earning himself the enmity of both Hera and Athena.
Of course, Paris had never been a simple shepherd. In truth, Paris was a prince of the city of Troy - the son
of King Priam. Upon his birth, it was prophesied that Paris would bring about the ruin of that grand city - and so, it
was decided that he should be sent away.
In the years that followed, though, Paris was ultimately welcomed back to the city of his birth, and invited
to claim his true status as prince. As he made his return to the city of Troy, though, Paris did so in the company of
Helen who, with the aid of Aphrodite, he had managed to steal away from her husband.
When Paris returned to Troy, he brought anger of a well-respected king and two powerful goddesses with
him - setting in motion a series of events which would eventually lead to the Trojan War.