Myth in which Paris chooses Aphrodite as fairest, leading to the Trojan War.
Overview
The Judgment of Paris, also called the Judgement of Paris or The Apple of Discord, is a key story in the Trojan Cycle. It tells how the Trojan prince Paris is chosen to judge a beauty contest between the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.
The story starts at the wedding of the mortal hero Peleus and the sea-goddess Thetis. Eris, the goddess of strife, is not invited. In anger, she throws a golden apple marked “for the fairest” among the goddesses. Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all claim the apple.
Zeus does not want to choose between them, so he appoints Paris of Troy as the judge. Each goddess offers Paris a bribe. Hera promises kingship and political power. Athena offers victory in war and wisdom. Aphrodite promises him Helen, said to be the most beautiful woman in the world.
Paris gives the apple to Aphrodite in exchange for Helen. This leads to Helen’s abduction from Sparta and sets off the Trojan War. Ancient sources treat this episode as a major prelude to the war, even though details differ.
The story is placed in the generation just before the Trojan War. It is usually seen as an epic myth and heroic legend. Later writers also use it as a moral example in literature.
Background
The Judgment of Paris is set up by earlier events that prepare the way for Paris’ choice.
Zeus arranges the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, a rare marriage between a mortal and a goddess. Most of the Olympian gods attend the wedding feast. Eris, goddess of strife, is left out because she is known to cause trouble. In revenge, she brings in the golden apple of discord.
This plays on existing rivalries and jealousy among Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite over beauty and status. It also fits a wider pattern in which the Olympian gods compete for honor and prestige. Zeus does not want to offend any of the three goddesses by judging them himself, so he gives the decision to a mortal, Paris. His choice will have long-lasting effects.
Paris is a son of Priam and Hecuba, king and queen of Troy. In some stories he is raised in obscurity or as a shepherd on Mount Ida because of dark prophecies that he will cause Troy’s destruction. Hera is Zeus’ wife and sister and queen of the gods. Athena is his daughter, a virgin goddess of wisdom and war. Aphrodite is a major goddess of love and beauty, and her parentage changes in different traditions.
The story takes place in a world where the Olympian gods are deeply involved in human affairs. They will later split into pro-Greek and pro-Trojan sides. Troy is shown as a rich and powerful city in Asia Minor whose fate becomes a focus of divine conflict.
The main settings are the wedding feast of Peleus and Thetis, usually placed in Thessaly or on Mount Pelion, and Mount Ida near Troy, where Paris lives or tends cattle when he is chosen as judge.
The Judgment is closely linked with other myths: the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the birth and early life of Paris, the abduction or elopement of Helen, the Trojan War, and the later fall of Troy and the house of Priam. Important background elements include the oath of Tyndareus, where Helen’s suitors swear to defend her chosen husband, and prophecies that Paris will bring about Troy’s ruin.
Within the wider Trojan Cycle, the story explains the direct divine and human causes of the Trojan War. It shows how Eris and rivalry among gods can bring disaster to mortals and gives a story for why the gods split into opposing sides.
Plot Summary
In the usual version of the myth, the story opens at the wedding feast of Peleus and Thetis. Eris, who has been left out, throws a golden apple marked “to the fairest” among the gods.
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite each claim the apple. Their argument is brought before Zeus. Zeus refuses to decide between them and instead chooses Paris, a Trojan prince known in some accounts for his fairness or beauty, to judge.
Hermes leads the three goddesses from the divine gathering to Mount Ida near Troy and explains Paris’ task. In a private contest, each goddess tries to win Paris over with a bribe. Hera offers him kingship and wide political power. Athena offers victory in war and wisdom. Aphrodite promises him the love of Helen of Sparta, considered the most beautiful woman in the world.
Paris thinks it over and chooses Aphrodite. He gives her the golden apple and declares her the fairest. Aphrodite, now his patron, favors him. Hera and Athena leave in anger and keep a lasting grudge against Paris and the Trojans.
With Aphrodite’s help or favor, Paris later travels to Sparta. Menelaus welcomes him as a guest, and Paris meets Helen. Helen’s departure with Paris, whether told as abduction or elopement, breaks the rules of guest-friendship and marriage.
This act triggers the oath of Tyndareus. Helen’s former suitors and other Greek leaders are bound to defend her husband, so they gather an army against Troy. This begins the Trojan War.
The story moves step by step: Eris throws the apple, the goddesses quarrel, Zeus sends them to Paris, the goddesses offer bribes, Paris awards the apple to Aphrodite, the gods react with favor or hatred, and then Paris’ journey to Sparta and the Greek mobilization follow.
Some versions stop with the awarding of the apple and the goddesses’ reactions. Others go on to tell Paris’ voyage to Sparta and Helen’s departure as an ending section. In all versions, the result is the same: Paris wins Aphrodite’s favor and Helen, Hera and Athena become enemies of him and of Troy, and the breaking of xenia and marriage bonds leads to a united Greek attack on Troy and the start of the Trojan War.
Key Figures
The main human character in the Judgment of Paris is Paris (also called Alexander). He is a Trojan prince chosen by Zeus to judge the beauty contest between the goddesses. He accepts Aphrodite’s bribe and gives her the golden apple. This brings on divine hatred and sets off the chain of events that leads to the Trojan War.
The three main divine contestants are Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena. Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, promises Paris the love of Helen and receives the apple as the fairest. She later helps him win Helen. Hera, queen of the gods and wife of Zeus, offers Paris kingship and rule. When he refuses her, she becomes a fierce enemy of Paris and the Trojans. Athena, goddess of wisdom and war, offers victory in battle and wisdom. She is also rejected and turns against Paris and Troy.
Several other figures frame the story. Eris, goddess of strife, is left out of the wedding of Peleus and Thetis and starts the conflict by throwing in the golden apple marked “for the fairest.” Zeus, king of the gods, refuses to judge the contest himself and appoints Paris as the judge, passing the responsibility to him. Hermes, the messenger god, leads Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite to Paris and explains his role.
Helen, the most beautiful mortal woman and wife of Menelaus, is the reward Aphrodite offers. Her later abduction or elopement with Paris is the direct result of the judgment. Peleus and Thetis, whose wedding is the scene of Eris’ act, are important as hosts of the divine feast.
Priam, king of Troy and father of Paris, is an indirect victim. Paris’ decision puts his city and family in danger. Menelaus, king of Sparta and Helen’s husband, is wronged when Paris takes Helen. This activates the oath of Tyndareus and leads to the Greek expedition against Troy.
The Olympian gods as a group form the audience and setting for the wedding feast and the quarrel over the apple. They later split into sides for Greeks or Trojans because of the judgment. The Trojans, as Paris’ people, suffer the results of his choice. The Achaean leaders, bound by the oath of Tyndareus, become the organized Greek force against Troy.
In terms of roles in the story, Paris is the judge, Eris starts the conflict, Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena are the competing goddesses, Zeus hands over the decision, Hermes is the messenger and guide, Helen is the promised prize, and figures like Priam, Menelaus, the Trojans, and the Achaean leaders are indirect victims of the choice.
Variants and Versions
The Judgment of Paris appears in many versions that keep the same basic outline but change details and focus.
In the lost epic Cypria, known from summaries, the episode is part of the lead-up to the Trojan War. Eris throws the apple at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite argue. Zeus sends them to be judged by Paris on Mount Ida. Each offers a bribe, and Paris chooses Aphrodite. This leads to his journey to Sparta and Helen’s abduction.
Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca (Epitome 3) gives a short prose version. Eris throws the apple. The three goddesses go to Paris. Hera promises royal power, Athena victory in war, and Aphrodite marriage with Helen. Paris chooses Aphrodite and later, as Menelaus’ guest, carries off Helen with her help.
Later writers like Lucian use the Judgment in rhetorical or satirical dialogues. They expand the speeches and arguments of the goddesses and Paris’ thinking, often for humorous or moral purposes rather than simple storytelling.
Greek vase painting also preserves an important visual tradition. Many vases show Hermes leading Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite to Paris, sometimes with their names written. These images focus on the procession and the moment of judgment more than on the bribes. They also fix common visual details, such as Paris wearing shepherd’s clothing.
Different versions change certain plot points. In some, Eris is physically present at the wedding; in others she only sends the apple. The exact wording and detail of each goddess’s bribe can vary. Some tell the story only up to the awarding of the apple, while others go on to Paris’ journey to Sparta and Helen’s abduction.
Some later or local stories show Paris as more hesitant or troubled, with longer scenes of him thinking over the choice. The cast can also change. Hermes may or may not appear as escort. Other gods at the wedding, like Poseidon or Apollo, may be named or left out. Some versions add attendants or personifications such as Peitho (Persuasion) with Aphrodite.
Despite these changes, the core result stays the same: Paris chooses Aphrodite and angers Hera and Athena. Sources differ in how clearly they connect this choice to the later sides taken by the gods in the Trojan War.
The Cypria, known from fragments and Proclus’ summary, gives the earliest long narrative frame for the story. Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca and Hyginus’ Fabulae keep more standardized Hellenistic and Roman-era versions. The Homeric epics assume the Judgment and its results but do not tell it directly. They instead refer to the bias of Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite and to Paris’ role in starting the war.
Because there was no single early “official” version, later writers and artists had a lot of freedom to expand speeches, motives, and inner detail.
Chronology
In mythic time, the Judgment of Paris belongs to the generation just before the Trojan War, during the wider heroic age of Greek myth.
It comes after the wedding of Peleus and Thetis and the birth and early exposure or raising of Paris. It comes before Paris’ journey to Sparta and Helen’s abduction. It is also preceded by Helen’s life in Sparta and the oath of Tyndareus sworn by her suitors.
Events that follow include Paris’ visit to Sparta, Helen’s abduction or elopement, the gathering of the Greek leaders and their mustering at Aulis, the Trojan War itself (including the events of the Iliad), and finally the fall of Troy and the nostoi, the returns of the Greek heroes.
Within the story itself, the timeline runs from the wedding of Peleus and Thetis and the throwing of the golden apple, to the choosing of Paris as judge and the contest on Mount Ida, then to a short gap before Paris’ journey to Sparta, Helen’s departure, and the Greek mobilization.
Ancient sources usually treat the Judgment as the key divine and human cause of the Trojan War, but they do not give a clear number of years between the judgment and the start of fighting. Short myth collections often place it alongside other pre-war events like the birth of Achilles and the gathering of the Greek leaders.
Historically, the myth is clearly known by the Archaic period. It appears in early epic such as the Cypria and in Greek art from the 6th century BCE onward.
Motifs and Themes
The Judgment of Paris includes many themes and story patterns that helped it stay popular.
Major themes include rivalry and jealousy among the Olympian gods, the harmful results of beauty contests and competition for honor, and the way judgment becomes corrupt when mortals are pulled into divine quarrels and tempted with bribes.
The story shows the power of erotic desire and love, represented by Aphrodite, over political power, linked with Hera, and over martial skill and wisdom, linked with Athena. It shows how vulnerable mortals are when powerful gods pull them in different directions. It also suggests that great wars can grow out of small or private choices and desires.
Common motifs include the “apple of discord” as a symbol of strife brought into a festive setting, the beauty contest between goddesses judged by a mortal, the fateful choice between different kinds of reward, the later breaking of xenia when Paris takes Helen, and the figure of the judge who cannot avoid angering powerful sides.
Symbolic elements include the golden apple marked “for the fairest” as a visible prize of honor that turns into a cause of conflict, Mount Ida as a quiet, in-between place where a mortal meets gods and makes a world-changing decision, and Helen as the image of irresistible beauty whose possession leads to war.
The story is built around a three-part choice: three goddesses and three offers, ending in one decisive pick. It follows a pattern where an opening scene of celebration and harmony is broken by the arrival of strife, which then leads from divine quarrel to mortal choice to large-scale war.
Typical roles include Paris as the chooser whose decision has huge effects, Eris as the bringer of discord, Aphrodite as the helpful but seductive goddess offering pleasure and love, and Hera and Athena as figures of political and military power who feel insulted and become vengeful.
Ethical and religious ideas appear in warnings about unfair judgment and taking bribes, hints that mortals should not try to settle divine disputes, and reflections on how fate cannot be escaped when divine plans and prophecies come together in one event. Later writers often use the Judgment as an example in discussions of justice, choice, and the worth of power, wisdom, and pleasure.
Setting and Locations
The Judgment of Paris takes place in a small but important group of mythic and real locations.
The first setting is the wedding feast of Peleus and Thetis, often placed on Mount Pelion or in Thessaly. This is a real region turned into a mythic place where the gods gather. Here Eris throws the golden apple and starts the conflict.
The contest itself usually happens on Mount Ida near Troy. This is a pastoral landscape where Paris tends cattle or lives in semi-exile. It is here that he judges the beauty contest between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.
Olympus, home of the gods, is the wider background. From there Zeus and the other gods watch and react to the quarrel.
Sparta, a real Greek city, is mythically Helen’s home and Menelaus’ kingdom. After the judgment, Paris travels there, meets Helen, and she later leaves Sparta with him.
Troy (Ilion), another real city turned into a mythic one, is Paris’ homeland. His choice seals its fate and Troy becomes the main stage for the Trojan War.
The story’s path runs from the divine gathering at the wedding feast, to Mount Ida as Hermes leads the goddesses to Paris, then from Mount Ida to Sparta under Aphrodite’s favor, and finally from Sparta back to Troy with Helen as a direct result of the judgment.
Mount Ida acts as a threshold space, between the human world and divine action. It is where a mortal shepherd-prince meets major goddesses and makes a crucial decision.
Some ancient art and literature place the contest in a more general rural setting instead of naming Mount Ida, but Mount Ida is the most common location.
The story is tied to several real regions and cities, including Thessaly, Sparta, Troy, and the Ida range in the Troad. These places help root the myth in the imagined geography of the ancient Greek world.
Prophecies and Curses
Prophecies and binding promises are important in shaping the Judgment of Paris and what follows.
Stories about Paris’ birth tell of prophecies that he will cause Troy’s ruin. These are given by seers such as Aesacus or unnamed prophets. The warnings are aimed at Paris and the royal house of Troy. They depend on his survival and later actions, including his role in the Judgment and the Trojan War.
These prophecies are seen as fulfilled through Paris’ choice in the contest, his part in Helen’s abduction, and his later killing of Achilles. All of these help bring about Troy’s fall.
Eris’ act of throwing the golden apple works like a curse of discord on the wedding feast and on the relationships between the gods and mortals involved. By writing “for the fairest” on the apple, she forces a contest that must offend powerful goddesses. The quarrel between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, Paris’ choice, and the Trojan War are all seen as the result of this first act of strife.
The oath of Tyndareus, sworn earlier by Helen’s suitors, is another key binding element. Tyndareus, king of Sparta, has the suitors swear to defend Helen’s chosen husband against any wrong. Menelaus, as Helen’s husband, and the Greek cause against Troy benefit from this. The oath is triggered when Helen’s marriage is broken by abduction or seduction. Paris’ taking of Helen after the Judgment activates the oath and leads the Greek leaders to unite in war against Troy.
Prophecies given to Priam and Hecuba, warning that their child will destroy Troy, explain in some stories why Paris is exposed or sent away as a baby and why he may be living as a shepherd on Mount Ida at the time of the Judgment instead of at the royal court.
Aftermath and Consequences
Right after the Judgment of Paris, Aphrodite receives the golden apple and favors Paris. Hera and Athena leave in anger and keep a deep hatred for him and the Trojans.
With Aphrodite’s help, Paris prepares for or begins a journey to Sparta. In the longer run, his visit to Sparta and Helen’s abduction or elopement set off the oath of Tyndareus. This brings together a Greek army against Troy and starts the Trojan War, which is said to last ten years and end with Troy’s destruction.
The story fixes a lasting hostility between certain gods, especially Hera and Athena, and the Trojans. This is balanced by Aphrodite’s support for Troy and, in some versions, Apollo’s support as well.
Politically and in terms of family lines, the results include the destruction of Priam’s house and the fall of Troy as a major power. The Trojans who survive suffer and scatter. Later stories use this to explain the founding of new cities in Italy and other places.
The war also changes Greek heroic families through the deaths of many heroes, their hard journeys home, and the founding of new settlements after the war.
On a wider religious level, the story underlines the idea that quarrels among gods can reshape human history. It is often treated as a clear example of divine bias and the risks of angering gods.
The fall of Troy is traced back to Paris’ decision. Later foundation myths about Trojan refugees, such as those about Aeneas in Roman tradition, depend on the chain of events that starts with the Judgment.
The status of several characters changes sharply. Paris goes from a hidden or pastoral life to a central but ultimately disastrous role in Trojan and Greek-wide history. Helen changes from queen of Sparta to the main cause of a pan-Hellenic war and a symbol of contested beauty. Hera and Athena become firmly seen as strong supporters of the Greek side, while Aphrodite is linked with the Trojans.
The episode comes directly before and explains Helen’s abduction. It sets up the divine sides and personal hatreds that shape the Iliad and other Trojan War stories. It also gives background for later episodes involving Paris, such as his duel with Menelaus and his killing of Achilles.
Ancient writers often look back to the Judgment when they explain why certain gods favor or hate certain heroes during the Trojan War. They treat it as a basic cause, not just a separate story.
Sources and Transmission
The earliest long version of the Judgment of Paris is linked with the Cypria, a now-lost epic from the Epic Cycle. It is known through Proclus’ summary and scattered fragments.
Main literary sources for the story include the Cypria as reconstructed from these pieces, Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca (especially Epitome 3), Hyginus’ Fabulae, and several dialogues by Lucian that treat the Judgment in a humorous way. Pausanias’ Description of Greece keeps references to artworks and local traditions, and scholia on Homer’s Iliad mention the Judgment as background for the gods’ sides in the war.
The myth is already firmly part of Archaic Greek epic and appears in early vase paintings from the 6th century BCE, which show Hermes leading the goddesses to Paris.
The Cypria survives only in short summaries and a few quoted lines, so its details are reconstructed indirectly. Myth collections like those of Apollodorus and Hyginus give more standardized Hellenistic and Roman-era versions that sometimes smooth out earlier differences.
There is strong evidence for oral storytelling. The way the Judgment fits into the Trojan Cycle and is assumed in Homeric epic shows that the story was well known in earlier oral tales. Its repeated patterns and set elements—three goddesses, three offers, the golden apple—also point to oral style.
Visual evidence is rich. Many Attic and other Greek vases from the 6th to 4th centuries BCE show the Judgment, usually with Hermes leading Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite to Paris as a shepherd. Roman wall paintings, reliefs, and mosaics continue this, often focusing on the moment of choice or the giving of the apple.
Although the Homeric poems do not tell the Judgment directly, later literature always treats it as a fixed part of the Trojan War’s background. The story’s strong visual appeal helped make it popular in ancient art, which in turn shaped how later writers and artists imagined it.
Interpretations and Scholarship
The Judgment of Paris has been read in many ways in both ancient and modern study.
Moral and teaching-focused readings, ancient and later, often treat the story as a warning against unfair judgment, taking bribes, and choosing sensual pleasure over wisdom and political duty.
Political and historical readings see it as a reflection on the causes of war, showing how private desires and rivalries among elites can grow into major conflicts. In Roman settings, the story is sometimes set against ideals like virtus and gravitas.
Psychological and symbolic readings, especially in modern work, treat Paris’ choice as an allegory of the human soul choosing between different ways of life: political power (Hera), intellectual and martial excellence (Athena), and erotic love (Aphrodite).
Myth-ritual approaches link the wedding of Peleus and Thetis and the later discord to themes of marriage, fertility, and the risks of leaving out powers like Eris from communal rites, though direct cult evidence is limited.
Structuralist readings highlight oppositions such as order versus strife, divine versus mortal, and public feast versus private desire. They also point to the three-part choice as a key pattern.
Psychoanalytic and symbolic approaches sometimes see the golden apple as a symbol of desire or a forbidden object, and the three goddesses as personified drives within the mind.
Historical and political approaches treat the myth as a backward-looking explanation for the fall of a strong city, putting it down to divine bias and human mistakes. In this way it can serve as a mythic base for Greek dominance or for Roman thinking about Trojan ancestry.
Comparative mythology notes similarities between the Judgment and other Indo-European or Near Eastern tales about contests among gods and a mortal judge, though clear direct matches are still discussed.
Discussions focus on how fully the story was shaped in early epic compared with later cyclic and mythographic sources, whether it is mainly meant to explain divine sides and the war, or to act as a moral example about choice and desire, and how far it might echo real conflicts between Greek and Anatolian powers.
Modern work includes attempts to rebuild the Trojan Cycle and the Cypria to clarify the Judgment’s role, as well as art-historical studies of Greek and Roman images of the scene that track changes in focus and iconography over time.
Cultural Influence
The Judgment of Paris has had a long impact on literature, art, and cultural ideas.
In Greek and Roman poetry, including works by Pindar, Euripides, Ovid, and others, it is often mentioned as a quick way to refer to a fateful choice or to the start of the Trojan War. Roman poets such as Ovid in the Heroides and Ars Amatoria, and later Latin writers, use the story as an example in discussions of love, beauty, and the dangers of erotic desire.
Medieval and Renaissance writers adapt the story in Latin and local languages. They sometimes add Christian moral themes or treat it as an allegory of moral choice.
In visual art, the Judgment is a major theme in Greek vase painting and later Roman wall painting and sculpture. It often serves as a way to show idealized female beauty. During the Renaissance and early modern era, it becomes a favorite subject for painters such as Rubens and others, who rework the myth in their own styles while keeping the main story.
The golden apple and the three goddesses become a clear visual shorthand for the story in Western art.
In Roman political and ideological settings, the myth appears where Troy’s fall and Rome’s Trojan roots are set side by side. It is sometimes used as a negative example of leadership and judgment, contrasted with ideals of wise rule.
In education, the Judgment appears in ancient and later school texts, rhetorical exercises, and moral treatises as a case for argument, persuasion, and ethical choice. Students were sometimes asked to write speeches for each goddess or for Paris.
The phrase “apple of discord” becomes a proverb in later Greek, Latin, and many modern European languages for something that causes strife and division.
Regionally, the Troad and Mount Ida keep links with Paris and the Judgment in ancient geography and travel writing. Sparta and Laconia are tied to Helen and the story’s results in local traditions and monuments.
Because it combines divine intrigue, erotic desire, and a great war, the Judgment of Paris has become one of the most enduring and often reworked episodes from Greek myth in Western culture.
Modern Retellings
In modern times, the Judgment of Paris continues to be retold in many forms.
Visual artists create paintings, prints, and sculptures that return to the scene. They often update the setting or use the three goddesses as symbols for different modern ideals or temptations.
In literature, modern novels, poems, and plays about the Trojan War in various European languages often give longer versions of the Judgment. They explore Paris’ inner thoughts and the goddesses’ arguments in more detail.
From the 19th to the 21st century, poetic and dramatic works retell the story as part of larger Trojan War narratives, stressing themes of choice, responsibility, and the tragic results of desire.
Films and television versions of the Trojan War sometimes show the Judgment briefly or in stylized form, with different levels of faithfulness to ancient sources. Operas and stage works based on the Trojan saga sometimes stage the Judgment as a prologue to set up the later action.
Graphic novels and comics that retell the Trojan War usually include the Judgment, with modernized dialogue and characterizations but the same basic myth.
Some games and interactive media that draw on Greek mythology use the Judgment as backstory or as a stylized choice sequence, often loosely based on the traditional tale.
The phrase “Judgment of Paris” and the image of a man choosing between three attractive options are also used in modern writing, advertising, and satire to describe hard or morally tricky choices between competing attractions.
Modern retellings usually shift the focus from divine control to human psychology. They present Paris’ decision less as a fixed act of fate and more as a personally meaningful moral choice.