01-The apple of Eris and the crisis of Paris

Zeus, learned from Prometheus, after his release from Hercules, that as his father Kronos, he would also be dethroned by a son. His fear was that a son of the sea goddess Thetis, who Zeus fell in love with, would be greater than his father. For one of these reasons, Thetis was married to an elderly mortal king Peleus, son of Aiacus, at the behest of Zeus. All the gods were invited to the wedding and brought gifts except Eris, the goddess of discord, which was uninvited, because she always caused divisions and upset. Eris was furious; she cast to the area of marriage a golden apple (the apple of discord) which had an inscription “to the most beautiful”. The apple was claimed by Hera, Athena and Aphrodite.

The conflict was particularly strong and no other god dared to express an opinion supporting any of the three because it would provoke the wrath of the other two goddesses. Eventually, Zeus ordered Hermes to lead the goddesses to Paris, the prince of Troy. Paris was at that time living as a shepherd on Mount Ida and was unaware of his royal descent, because he had been cast away from his family as an infant, due to the oracle omen that he would cause the destruction of the city. The goddesses appeared before him and because he hesitated to choose, he was offered gifts in order to choose either: Athena offered wisdom and skill in battle, Hera leadership and guidance of the masses, and Aphrodite offered him Love of the most beautiful woman in the world, the beautiful Helen, queen of Sparta.