The hand of Aphrodite (Venus) holds the apple won in the ‘Judgment of Paris’, in this 2nd century AD statue now in the Louvre, Paris, having belonged to King Louis XIV. The statue is Roman, a copy of a statue made for Julius Caesar, but the ‘Venus Genitrix’ style goes back to 5th century BC Greece. See more at the Louvre.
WHEN Peleus, prince of Aegina, married the sea-nymph Thetis, the wedding was attended by many gods and goddesses. Eris, goddess of Discord, was not invited; however she slipped in anyway, bringing a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides.
She wrote ‘For the fairest’ on it, and lobbed it into the wedding-party.
After the apple’s discovery and some bruising debate, most agreed that one of Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite must be the intended recipient. They turned to Zeus, who hastily passed the decision onto Paris, currently Olympus’s most respected referee.
Paris’s reputation for impartiality did not prevent Hera offering him all Europe, or Athene promising him glory in battle.
But it was Aphrodite’s promise of Helen, Queen of Sparta and the world’s most beautiful mortal woman, that won her the prize.
Hera in particular was outraged. When Paris stole Helen from Sparta and took her to Troy, Hera did not rest until she had brought Peleus’s son Achilles in war to his gate.
Précis
Thetis did not invite Eris, goddess of discord, to her wedding. So Eris threw an apple inscribed ‘to the fairest’ into the celebrations, causing Hera, Athene and Aphrodite to fight over who deserved it. Paris, named as umpire, chose Aphrodite because she promised him Helen of Sparta, which, coupled with Hera’s undying resentment, led directly to the Trojan War. (59 / 60 words)
