The Trojan War began with a beauty contest between Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera, who bribed Paris for the title of most beautiful. Aphrodite won by offering the love of Helen, causing the war. The golden apple prize was created by Eris, the goddess of discord. The goddesses’ enmity continued during the war, with Hera and Athena siding with the Athenians and Aphrodite with the Trojans.
While people are quite used to hearing rumors about the non-queen nature of beauty queens, they aren’t so used to hearing that the infighting in beauty pageants could start a war. However, classical Greek mythology describes just such a circumstance. According to myth, the Trojan War began with a beauty contest between the three main goddesses, Athena, Aphrodite and Hera.
Myth tales say that the three goddesses wanted an impartial person to judge which goddess was the most beautiful. They took their discussion to Paris, who was considered very wise and was among other things the son of the king of Troy. The prize for being most beautiful was a golden apple, probably more likely a pomegranate or other more common Mediterranean fruit. So far, the mention of the Trojan War was far away.
However, the goddesses decided not to play fair. Each of them bribed Paris with various offers. Athena offered great wisdom and skill in battle to win the coveted title. She was offered royalty high above men. Aphrodite took the title by offering the love of the most beautiful woman on earth.
Paris could not resist Aphrodite’s offer and claimed her as the most beautiful goddess. Unfortunately, there was a slight hitch in Aphrodite’s plan. The most beautiful woman on earth, Helena, was already married to Menelaus. Accounts differ as to how Helen was taken by Paris, but those who courted Helen before her marriage agreed to defend her and each other’s honor if anyone attempted to steal Helen after her marriage.
Thus, the Trojan War was essentially started by what is called the Judgment of Paris and his further actions to kidnap Helen and bring her to Troy. It is also important to evaluate the apple prize in relation to the Trojan War.
It is said in various accounts that the goddess Eris, who was the goddess of discord, created the golden apple. She was angry that she hadn’t received an invitation to a special feast of the gods hosted by Zeus. The golden apple is often called the apple of contention, as it caused goddesses to immediately start fighting and contesting their right to be claimed as the fairest.
The enmity between the goddesses continues in Homer’s Iliad, which is a biased account of the Trojan War. During the Trojan War, Hera and Athena tended to side with the Athenians, eventually allowing Troy to be destroyed to the last man, woman and child. Aphrodite was naturally on the side of the Trojans during the Trojan War. There is a remarkable passage in Homer where Aphrodite attempts to interfere and save the life of one of her favorites. She is hurt by her and Zeus laughs at her, suggesting that love and war should never mix.
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