. Tiny wings of gold were projecting from his locks, in which they had been fastened symmetrically on both sides. A prince gives command both to the valiant and the unwarlike. They say that thou art a king and keepest the city of Troy. 9. Three instances of golden apples were featured in Greek mythology: ‘The contest is at hand, dear children! They asked Zeus to judge which of them was fairest, and eventually he, reluctant to favor any claim himself, declared that Paris, a Trojan mortal, would judge their cases, for he had recently shown his exemplary fairness in a contest in which Ares in bull form had bested Paris's own prize bull, and the shepherd-prince had unhesitatingly awarded the prize to the god.[8]. When Eris appeared at the festivities she was turned away and in her anger cast the golden apple amongst the assembled goddesses addressed \"To the Fairest.\" Three goddesses laid claim to the apple--Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. : Stasinus of Cyprus or Hegesias of Aegina, Cypria Fragment 6 (from Athenaeus 15. They were appeasing the goddess by strewing wreaths and single blossoms before her, and they formed a most elegant chorus-line as they sought to please the Mistress of pleasures with the foliage of spring. This was Helen of Sparta, wife of the Greek king Menelaus. She vaunted her unblemished beauty by appearing naked and unclothed except for a thin silken garment veiling her entrancing lower parts. The curtain was raised, the backcloths were folded away, and the stage was set. Lakedaimon, after Troy, shall see thee a bridegroom.’ He chose Aphrodite, swayed by her promise to bestow upon him Helene, the most beautiful woman, for wife. "[Description of a religious play depicting the Judgement of Paris held in Korinthos (Corinth) :] The day appointed for the show was now at hand . Embrace your mother that nursed you. So cried Athene of many counsels, and white-armed Hera thus took up the tale : ‘If thou wilt elect me and bestow on me the fruit of the fairer, I will make thee lord of all mine Asia. The story is the basis of an opera, The Judgement of Paris, with a libretto by William Congreve, that was set to music by four composers in London, 1700–1701. So the father, the son of Kronos, commanded Hermaon. He was handsomely dressed to represent the Phrygian shepherd handsomely dressed to represent the Phrygian shepherd Paris, with exotic garments flowing from his shoulders, and his head crowned with a tiara of gold. But, before he gave judgement, Athene took him smiling, by the hand and spake to Alexandros thus : ‘Come hither, son of Priamos! The brief allusion to the Judgement in the Iliad (24.25–30) shows that the episode initiating all the subsequent action was already familiar to its audience; a fuller version was told in the Cypria, a lost work of the Epic Cycle, of which only fragments (and a reliable summary[2]) remain. . Not always are the squires of Athene foremost. And Paris bent a gently eye and quietly essayed to judge the beauty of each. Paris preferred this last gift to the previous ones and ruled Venus was the prettiest. Paris opted for Aphrodite and so Helen was taken away from Sparta to become Helen of Troy. Later artists who have painted the subject include André Lhote, Enrique Simonet (El Juicio de Paris 1904), and Salvador Dalí. And I have no regret, nor shall I ever seem in my own eyes to have made a foolish choice; my mind is fixed and persists in its desire.’", Ovid, Heroides 17. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. Theoi Project © Copyright 2000 - 2017 Aaron J. Atsma, Netherlands & New Zealand. Three goddesses claimed the beautiful golden apple: Hera, the mature goddess of Marriage Athena, the sophisticated goddess of Wisdom Aphrodite, the sensual goddess of Love. What has Aphrodite to do with shields? Queen but not of shields and nurse but not of fire, Ares hath not holpen thee, though Ares rages with the spear: the flames of Hephaistos have not holpen thee, though he brings to birth the breath of fire. This concept drives the men, throughout all Greek myths, to part incredible journeys in the hope that they will be remembered as heroes. Aphrodite, though not as objectively beautiful as Hera, was the goddess of sexuality, and was effortlessly more sexual and charming before him. Now they had just passed over the summit of the hill of Ida, where under a rock-crowned cliff's height young Paris herded his father's flocks. The Golden Apple appears as a gift from Aphrodite with the ability to make any mortal woman fall in love with the man holding it and to make a mortal man and woman soul mates if they simultaneously touch it. In it, the three goddesses have been reduced to three town biddies in smalltown Washington state. It is recounted[5] that Zeus held a banquet in celebration of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis (parents of Achilles). Athenian Red Figure Vase Painting C5th B.C. When Eris, goddess of strife, isn't invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the spiteful goddess tosses a golden apple into the crowd, with the words "to the fairest" written on it. This quote is from Jane speaking to St. John about their ideas of love. Ivo Saliger (1939), Adolf Ziegler (1939), and Joseph Thorak (1941) also used the classic myth to propagate German renewal during the Nazi period. Mair) (Greek poetry C5th to 6th A.D.) . Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) : Strabo, Geography 13. They ask Paris, a traveling salesman, to judge the cakes they have made for the church social. Scorn thou the works of battle. However, Eris, goddess of discord was not invited, for it was believed she would have made the party unpleasant for everyone. Juno [Hera] was attended by Castor and Pollux [the Dioskouroi], their heads covered by egg-shaped helmets prominently topped with stars; these Castors were represented by boys on stage. And lifting with her hands the honeyed girdle of the Erotes (Loves) she bared all her bosom and heeded not her breasts. Hera, the mature goddess of Marriage Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : 33 ff (trans. Athena, the sophisticated goddess of Wisdom "The [Homeric] epic called The Cypria which is current is eleven books. And as some heifer wanders from the pasture in the glen and roams in the lonely brush, smitten by the bloody gadfly, the goad of kine: so Eris (Strife) overcome by the pangs of angry jealousy, wandered in search of a way to disturb the banquet of the gods. Venus [Aphrodite] on the other hand was elated and smiling, and registered her joy by dancing in company with the entire chorus. Kallisti) is also an ancient name for the isle of Thera. And often would she leap up from her chair, set with precious stones, and anon sit down again. At the moment when she met the gaze of the judge, the beckoning of her arms seemed to hold the promise that if he preferred her over the other goddesses, she would present Paris with a bride of unmatched beauty, one like herself. The story of the Judgement of Paris naturally offered artists the opportunity to depict a sort of beauty contest between three beautiful female nudes, but the myth, at least since Euripides, rather concerns a choice among the gifts that each goddess embodies. But his herdsman's crook, driver of kine, was laid aside: for so, walking mincingly in his accustomed ways, he pursued the shrill minstrelsy of his pipe's rustic reeds . Standing by him [Paris] appeared a radiant boy, naked except for a youth's cloak draped over his left shoulder; his blonde hair made him the cynosure of all eyes. And how, covering thy body in brazen robes, thou dost flee from love and pursuest the works of Ares, untaught of harmony and wotting not of concord. Come hither, and I will make thee the saviour of their city to men hard pressed : lest ever Enyo of grievous wrath weigh heavily upon thee.