Teachers’ notes
A web of stories
Paris’ story
King Priam of Troy was delighted with his new
baby son, called Paris. But one night, Paris’
mother had a dream that he would one day
destroy his father’s city, so she asked a servant to
take him away and kill him. The servant couldn’t
bring himself to do it, and instead, asked his
friend to raise Paris on his farm. Paris loved
working with the animals. He excelled at training
the prize fighting bulls and one day when he
was taking part in a great contest, King Priam
recognised him and explained who he really
was. Paris was welcomed home with open arms
and his father vowed that he would make up
for all the time they had spent apart. Paris then
told his father about the promise Aphrodite had
made to him, while he was still a shepherd...
TERESA SAUNDERS, EDUCATIONAL WRITER AND CHILDREN’S AUTHOR
Aphrodite’s promise
Aphrodite, the goddess of love, had been
quarrelling with two of the other goddesses,
Hera and Athena, about who was the most
beautiful. They had found a golden apple
marked ‘To the fairest’ and all three goddesses
had claimed that the apple was rightfully theirs.
To stop the arguing, Hera suggested that they
ask a nearby shepherd, Paris, to choose who
was the fairest. Paris didn’t know who to choose.
Hera told him that if he chose her, she
would make him the most powerful king in the
whole world. Athena said that she would make
him into the greatest hero in the world.
But Aphrodite promised that if he chose her, she
would make sure that he married the most
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beautiful mortal woman in the world. Her name
was Helen and she was the wife of the king of
Sparta. Aphrodite told Paris not to worry about
Helen’s husband. She would make Helen fall in
love with him.
Achilles and Hector
During one battle in the Trojan War, the Greek
hero, Achilles, killed the Trojan prince, Hector,
who was Paris’ brother. Hector had killed
Achilles’s best friend, Patroclus, and Achilles
had vowed revenge. After killing him, Achilles
drove his war chariot around the city walls
of Troy three times, dragging Hector’s body
behind it, to punish the Trojans. King Priam
asked for his son’s body so that he could bury
him, but Achilles refused unless the king gave
him the weight of Hector’s body in gold. The
only way the king could find that much gold
was if Hector’s sister, Polyxena, gave Achilles
all of her golden jewellery. As Polyxena took
off her rings and bracelets, Achilles fell in love
with her. Achilles knew she could never love the
man that killed her brother, but to his surprise,
one day she sent a note asking to meet him.
Excitedly, Achilles went to see her wearing the
magic battle armour that the god of metal,
Hephaestos, had made for him to keep him safe
from harm. When he arrived at the meeting
place, someone was hiding behind a pillar and
shot a poisonous arrow at his heel – the only
part of Achilles’s body unprotected
by the magic armour. The poison killed
him instantly.
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FEBRUARY 2007 JUNIOR EDUCATION
21/12/2006, 10:57:45