Judgement of Paris

What do you know about the Trojan War?
It occurred over 3,000 years ago.
Do you remember who Helen is?
How about Hector?
And what about Menelaus?
Do you know what started the war?
That is a question I have been asked often. What started the Trojan war?

Let me first tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Zeus. I
am the King of the Gods. I overthrew my own father to get my crown.
He had done the same to his father. And I had heard of a prophecy that
one day, the same might happen to me: one of my own sons could
overthrow me. Unfortunately, I was not the most faithful husband. I
have many sons by mortal women. The most famous of my sons is
Hercules, who I'm sure you've heard of. Given his superior strength,
you probably think that he would be the one to take the throne from me,
but the prophecy said that a a son would be born to the sea nymph
Thetis, and he would become "greater than his father." I was in love
with Thetis. But to avoid the prophecy, I ordered her to marry Peleus,
a mortal man.

It was at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis that things really got
interesting. Eris,the Goddess of Discord and Strife, was not invited
to the wedding, for Eris loved to cause trouble. She carried a golden
apple that we called, the "Apple of Discord." When Eris showed up to
the wedding uninvited, she was turned away. She extracted her revenge by
casting the golden apple among the wedding guests. The apple had a
message on it that read, "To the Fairest." Some say that this apple is
what really caused the Trojan War.



Golden Apple

Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all claimed the apple. As expected, the
three goddesses were not able to come to an agreement. They brought
the quarrel to me. I wasn't going to touch this one. Instead, I asked
Hermes to take the goddesses to Paris of Troy and let him decide. Why
did I choose Paris? Paris was known to have a skill for sound
judgment.

So, let me give you a little background on Paris. Paris was the
youngest son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. When he was born,
Hecuba had a dream about Paris. In this dream, Hecuba saw that Paris
would be the downfall of Troy. Because of Hecuba's dream, Paris was
taken to Mount Ida. His parents left him there to die, but Paris
survived and grew up to become a shepherd.

Hermes took the goddesses to Paris on Mount Ida. Hermes told Paris of
what he had to do, while Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite patiently waited
to hear Paris' decision. I know it must have been difficult for him.
Hera went so far as to promise Paris power over Asia, if he were to
choose her. Athena stepped in and promised Paris great wisdom and
fortune on the battlefield. Aphrodite then stepped forward and
promised Paris the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen.


Helen of Troy

Ah, Helen. She truly was the most beautiful woman in the world. Of course,
I may be biased; after all, she is my daughter. So many men desired her that when she
became of age to marry, the greatest men of Greece all gathered to court her.
To avoid any bloodshed, her mother's husband King Tyndareos made the suitors take
an oath, the Oath of Tyndareos. They had to swear to support the marriage of the
man who was chosen and to join together to help the winning husband should any
rival try to take Helen from his home. It was Menelaus of Sparta who won her hand in marriage.

As for Paris, he found his way
back into his family's home despite Hecuba's dream. His sister
Cassandra continuously warned the family that Paris would bring about
Troy's destruction, but no one wanted to believe her. Paris
claimed his title as one of the princes of Troy and went to Helen's
home in Sparta to claim his prize.

He was greeted in Sparta as a friend by King Menelaus and Queen Helen.
Fortunately for him, Menelaus was called away to a funeral.
Paris took advantage of Menelaus' absence to convince Helen to leave with him.
Helen may have hesitated, but she fell in love with the prince and willingly left
Sparta to be with Paris.

When Menelaus returned to find his wife had left with the young prince,
he immediately went to his brother Agamemnon for help.
Because of the Oath of Tyndareos, all of Helen's
suitors had to go to war. The suitors were from many different nations
and had vast armies to take to battle.

As for Paris, his family was not happy with his actions. Hecuba's dream
that Paris would bring the descruction of Troy would come true if Helen
were to stay with Paris. Regardless, Helen was welcomed by King Priam and his
family, despite the knowledge that Menelaus would come for her with his
Spartan army behind him.

Paris' decision brought to him the love of Helen. The decision also brought war upon the House of Priam.
This war would become known to the Greeks as a glorious, epic battle.
I had hoped that fate would direct the events of the war, but it is impossible
to keep my eyes on all of the gods and goddesses at all times.
It is also impossible for me to control fate without intervention of my own.
Regardless of our interference, the fall of Troy was inevitable.

Author's Note: I found many versions of the story The Judgment of Paris written by many different authors. One of the oldest versions is found within the fragments of the poem "Cypria" by Stasinsus. It is the oldest surviving work that tells the origin of the Trojan War and it also implied that Zeus planned the war with Themis, the goddess of law and order. I chose this story to give some the divine reason that the war may have started and to give Zeus a reason to talk about the war.

I have listed below some links to resources where you can find other versions of this story. Encyclopedia Mythica and Greek Mythology Link both provide much information about some of the little details that were a big part in the story and these sources gave a better description of the characters such as Eris and Helen. I tried to tell the story in a way that sounded as if the reader was reading the story for the first time.

Online, I found many pictures of these characters and of the Trojan War that were from movies, but I chose to use mainly paintings because The Trojan War has been an inspiration for many artists throughout history. I had a hard time picking the paintings I liked most. There were many to choose from.

From Zeus' point of view all of these things actually happened. Keep in mind, he’s telling the story over again. It may sound like a history lesson, but I tried to put in a little of what his personality and attitude might be in regards to some parts of the story. From the research that I found about what Zeus may have thought about the Trojan War, I found that the war was nothing but a game to the gods. Zeus did his best to let the humans control the outcome, but the other gods could not help but sway the outcome.