Judgment of Paris,
Helen of Troy,
Start of the
Trojan war, and
the Trojan Horse
Judgment of Paris
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It all begins at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. All the
gods were invited to this event accept Eris, the goddess
of discord.
When she appeared at the wedding, she was kicked out
and in her anger cast a golden apple among the
assembled goddesses addressed “to the fairest.”
Three goddesses said they all claimed the apple-Aphrodite, Hera and Athena.
Zeus was asked to intercede and he told Hermes to take
the three goddesses to Paris of Troy to come to a
decision about the issue.
The three goddess appeared before the prince and each
offered him some sort of gift
He finally chose Aphrodite. She convinced him by her
promise to give him Helene, the most beautiful woman,
for a wife. Her abduction then led to the Trojan War and
the fall of the city.
Helen of Troy
Abduction By Theseus
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She was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. Although by
some accounts, her mother was not Leada, its Nemesis.
Athenians, Theseus and Pirithous pledged to wed the
daughters of Zeus. Theseus picked Helen and Pinthous
chose to marry Persephone, the wife of Hades.
Theseus and Pirithous kidnapped Helen and put her with
Theseus’ mother Aethra, while they traveled to the
underworld to kidnap Persephone.
Hades pretended to offer them kindness and set a feast
for them. As soon as they sat down, snakes coiled
around their feet and held them there. Helen was later
rescued by her brothers, Castor and Pollux, who then
returned her to Sparta.
Marriage to Menelaus
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When the time came for Helen to marry someone, many
kings and princes came from around the world to marry
her.
 All of the kings and princes came and they brought many
rich gifts with them, with the exception of Odysseus.
 Helen’s father, Tyndareus would not chose a person to
marry her daughter, but he would not send a person
away either because he didn’t want to offend them or
give them a reason to fight.
 Odysseus promised to solve the problem if Tyndareus
would support him in his courting of Penelope, the
daughter of Lcarius. Tyndareus agreed and Odysseus
said that, before the decision was made, all the people
should swear a most solemn oath to defend the chosen
husband against whoever should fight him.
 This trick succeeded and Helen and Menelaus were
married. Following Tyndareus' death, Menelaus became
king of Sparta because the only male heirs, Castor and
Pollux and Castor, had died and ascended to Olympus.
Start of the Trojan War
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The Trojan war started when Menelaus' wife Helen was
kidnapped by Paris of Troy.
Menelaus assembled 1,000 ships to sail for Troy.
However, finding Troy proved difficult.
When Telephus sustained an unknown wound, an oracle
told him only Achilles could cure the wound. In exchange
for healing his wound, Telephus told Achilles the way to
Troy.
When King Priam refused negotiations with the Trojans,
Menelaus sailed his 1,000 ships to Troy.
The Greeks enslaved many Trojan heroes including
Prince Hector and also defeated many of Troy’s armies,
but the walls of Troy could not be breached by the
Greeks.
The Trojan Horse
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Menelaus and Odysseus then ordered that a giant horse
be built with hollow insides for soldiers to hide in. They
left one soldier Sinon behind to deceive the Trojans.
When the Trojans came to marvel at the giant horse,
Sinon pretended to be angry at the Greeks for deserting
him and told the Trojans that the horse was safe and
would bring them good luck.
The Trojans celebrated their believed victory and
dragged the horse to Troy with Sinon as well.
While the Trojans slept, Sinon released the Greek
soldiers from the horse and they began killing the
Trojans.
Priam was killed while hiding next to the statue of
Zeus and the Greeks won the war with the burning of
Troy.
Works Cited List
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Atsma, Aaron J. Judgmet of Paris. 1 Mar. 2009
<http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/JudgementParis.html>.
Hamilton, Patricia. Helen of Troy. 1 Mar. 2009
<http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/papers/ha
miltonhelen/helenoftroy.html>.
Mortal Woman of the Trojan War. 1 Mar. 2009
<http://www.stanford.edu/~plomio/history.html>.
Speculations about the History That Lies behind Some of
the Famous Legends. 1 Mar. 2009
<http://mmtaylor.net/Holiday2000/Legends/trojan.war.ht
ml>.