This is my retelling of one of my favorite Myths, based on Edith Hamilton's Mythology book.
All the gods and goddess gathered to celebrate the wedding of the sea nymph Thetis and King Peleus. The goddess of discord, Eris, however, was intentionally forgotten, as she was not a very popular goddess. She vowed to make trouble as a way of exacting her revenge and did so by tossing a golden apple into the banquet hall. Normally this would not be a big deal, but the apple was marked For the Fairest and naturally, every goddess there wished to claim it for their own.
In the end, the choice was narrowed down to three goddesses, Pallas Athena, goddess of wisdom, Hera, queen of the gGods, and Aphrodite, goddess of love. They asked Zeus to judge between them; however, he refused, a wise choice. Instead, he told them to go to Mount Ida and make the request of a young Prince of Troy named Paris. Paris was currently living with a sea nymph named Oenone and tending sheep because his father, King Priam had sent him away. The prophets claimed that Paris would one day be the downfall of Troy.
When the goddesses approached Paris with the judgement, they asked him not only to judge by their divine appearance, but also by the gifts which they would bestow on him should he pick them. Athena offered him glory in battle, telling him he would lead the Trojans agains the Greeks in a great battle that would lay the Greeks to waste. Hera offered him power, promising to make him lord over all of Europe and Aisa. Aphrodite offered him love, saying that the most beautiful woman on all of Earth would be his.
In the end, Paris chose love and gave Aphrodite the apple.
The significance of this myth is that the judgement of Paris is the cause of the great Trojan War. Paris, with the help of Aphrodite stole Helen from King Menelaus of Sparta while he was away at Crete. The Greeks then unite to destroy Troy and retrieve Helen. This is also the reason for Hera's venimous hatred of Troy. Athena despises Troy as well and sides with the Greeks during the battle, while Aphrodite sides with the Trojans.
All this over a silly apple.
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