Mythology of the Month: The Apple of Discord

As you know, I love mythology, it's juicy & full of enticing twists and turns like your favorite soap opera. Here's a story that you're bound to love: a story about how the goddess of discord, Eris, in my opinion, started the Trojan War. Well, let me back up a little. It all started when the invites were going out to all the gods & goddesses for the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Zeus invited everyone, except the goddess of discord, Eris. I mean, I don't blame him. Who wants a goddess who's just going to start disagreements at a wedding? During the wedding, Eris tried to sneak in. When no one would let her in, she used a golden apple and engraved "to the fairest" on it, and threw it into the wedding. When the goddesses saw the apple roll in, they fought over it, all claiming that they were the fairest. Three goddesses in particular, Hera, Aphrodite and Athena, wanted the apple. They asked Zeus to whom it should go to. Zeus understandably didn't want to pick favorites and upset any of them, so he decided to pass the judgement onto Paris, a prince from Troy, who happened to be a sheep herder at the time. In order to sway Paris's decision, each goddess promised Paris a unique prize if he picked her. Hera promised superiority over all mortals. Athena promised that she would make him a victorious warrior and hero for Troy. Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen (who at the time was married to King Menelaus of Mycenaean, but this didn't seem to matter to Aphrodite), and her hand in marriage. Paris chose Aphrodite's offer which led to the beginning of the Trojan War. I'll tell you more later, lol.

xoxo,

DancingPrincess