Everything
started when Zeus and
Poseidon fall in love in the nymph Thetis. However, the oracle had told
that the son of Thetis would be much stronger than his father, and of
course none of them wanted this to happen with their sons.
Therefore they searched for an
appropriate man for the nymph who would not be very powerful. The chosen
man was Peleus, the son of Aiakos.
For
second and last time in the history of Greek mythology, all Gods attended
a wedding on the Earth. All except of one, the Goddess of discord Eris,
who was not invited (or would you like to have the discord in your
wedding?). Of course, she was not happy about this, and decided to pass by
shortly even if she was not invited. Once there, she let a golden apple
next to where the Goddesses Athena, Hera and Aphrodite were sitting. On
the apple it was written: for the most beautiful Goddess.
Well,
they would need an arbitrator. Not Peleus because it was his wedding,
then… all the gazes settled on a lonely shepherd named Paris. He was the
son of Priamos and Hekabe, the royal couple of Troika. When Paris was
born, the Oracle told his parent that he would bring a big misfortune to
the city, so they decided to abandon the baby. One day, sport competitions
were organized in Troy and one participant managed to win all the rest.
When he approached the king and the queen, they realized that he was their
son Paris and took him back home full of joy.
So
Paris should decide which of the Goddesses was the most beautiful one.
A pretty difficult decision.
Hera promised him power,
Athena wisdom, and Aphrodite the most beautiful woman on Earth. Paris
opted for Aphrodita and, with this, for the most beautiful woman on Earth.
This
woman was Helena, the wife of the emperor of Sparta
Menelaos. But this did
not matter to Paris, who left to Sparta to get his future woman… quite a
delicate matter.
Helena
was the daughter of Zeus and Leba. When the time came that she had to get
married, many famous heroes arrived from the entire world to fight for
her. Then the king Tyndareos, the patron of the girl, got afraid, since he
knew that all those who would not get Helena would become his enemies. But
following an advice from Odysseus, the king made them promise that they
would accept the decision and that if ever somebody would take Helena
away, they would help him to get her back. They all consented and waited
for the decision. Finally the lucky one was the rich Menelaos, who
inherited all the empire of Sparta after the king’s death and lead a happy
and abundant life.
But
let’s go back to Paris’ role in the story. He was on his way to Sparta
under the guidance of Aphrodite, so for sure he would not have much
trouble to get the beautiful Helena out of Sparta and take her to the end
of the Aegean in Troy.
Gods / Heroes / The Danaids / Europa / The Atriden / Trojan War / The Oracle
