Who was The Judgement of Paris?

Q: Who was The Judgement of Paris?

The Judgement of Paris is the Greek myth in which the Trojan prince Paris, also called Alexander, was asked to decide which of three goddesses – Hera, Athena or Aphrodite – was the most beautiful. He chose Aphrodite, who had promised him Helen, the wife of Menelaus of Sparta.

The Judgement of Paris :: The Myth That Sparked the Trojan War

The Judgement of Paris is the Greek myth in which the Trojan prince Paris, also called Alexander, was asked to decide which of three goddesses – Hera, Athena or Aphrodite – was the most beautiful. He chose Aphrodite, who had promised him Helen, the wife of Menelaus of Sparta. In the epic tradition this choice was the first step toward the Trojan War.

The Origins of the Judgement

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis

The epic Cypria, known to us through a later summary, begins with Zeus planning the Trojan War together with Themis. Strife (Eris) arrives while the gods are feasting at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis and starts a quarrel between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite about which of them is the fairest (Proclus’ summary of the Cypria). Later writers add the golden apple. In Hyginus, Zeus invites every god to the wedding except Eris; she comes anyway, is turned away at the door, and throws an apple into the company for “the most beautiful” (Hyginus, Fabulae 92). Apollodorus also has Eris throw an apple as a prize of beauty (Epitome 3.2). Paris is not a guest at the wedding; the goddesses are taken to him afterwards on Mount Ida.

The Contention of the Goddesses

Hera, Athena and Aphrodite each claimed the prize. Zeus did not judge between them himself. He ordered Hermes to take the three goddesses to Paris on Mount Ida and to tell him to decide (Cypria, Proclus’ summary; Apollodorus, Epitome 3.2; Hyginus, Fabulae 92). Euripides names the same four figures on Ida in a choral ode: Athena, Aphrodite, Hera and Hermes, the messenger of Zeus (Iphigenia at Aulis 1284–1308). Neither Apollodorus nor Hyginus gives a reason why Zeus sent them to Paris.

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Paris’s Fateful Choice

Paris on Mount Ida

Paris was the son of Priam and Hecuba. Before his birth, Hecuba dreamed that she gave birth to a firebrand that set the whole city on fire, and Priam’s son Aesacus told him that the child would ruin his country. Priam gave the baby to a servant, Agelaus, to be exposed on Ida. A she-bear suckled the baby for five days; when Agelaus found him alive, he took him home and raised him on his farm as his own son, naming him Paris. As a young man Paris was called Alexander because he defended the flocks against robbers, and later he discovered his parents (Apollodorus, Library 3.12.5).

The Bribes of the Goddesses

The offers vary a little from source to source:

Hera promised him kingship over all men (Apollodorus, Epitome 3.2). In Euripides it is rule over Asia and the borders of Europe (Trojan Women 927–928), and in Hyginus rule over all lands and great wealth (Fabulae 92).
Athena promised victory in war (Epitome 3.2). In Euripides she promises that he will lead the Phrygians and conquer Greece (Trojan Women 925–926), and in Hyginus that he will be the greatest warrior among mortals and skilled in every craft.
Aphrodite promised him Helen as his wife (Epitome 3.2). In Euripides, Helen says that Aphrodite promised her beauty to Paris if he judged her the fairest (Trojan Women 929–931; Helen 23–29).

The Judgement and Its Consequences

Paris decided in favour of Aphrodite (Apollodorus, Epitome 3.2). Hera and Athena became enemies of Troy: the Iliad names the judgement as one reason why Hera, Poseidon and Athena had hated Troy and Priam ever since: Paris insulted the goddesses when they came to his farm and praised the one who gave him his grievous desire (Iliad 24.25–30). The Iliad only alludes to the story and does not narrate the contest itself. When Hector reproaches him, Paris answers that the gifts of golden Aphrodite should not be thrown in his face (Iliad 3.64–66), and when he is about to be killed by Menelaus, Aphrodite carries him away and sets him in his bedroom (Iliad 3.380–382). In the council of the gods, Hera and Athena sit by Zeus and plan harm for the Trojans (Iliad 4.20–21).

Aphrodite fulfilled her promise. Paris sailed to Sparta in ships built at her suggestion and, while Menelaus was away in Crete, left with Helen (Cypria, Proclus’ summary; Apollodorus, Epitome 3.3). Menelaus then planned an expedition against Troy with his brother Agamemnon (Cypria, Proclus’ summary). In the Iliad, Helen resists when Aphrodite summons her to Paris’ bedroom, and the goddess answers that she will turn against her and make Trojans and Greeks hate her (Iliad 3.399–417).