- plot ancient greek mythology about a pastoral beauty contest in which the shepherd Paris pronounces his verdict on three goddesses. The scene gives no indication of the terrible events that would follow this verdict, namely the Trojan War.
The goddess of discord Eris, offended by the fact that she was not invited to the wedding feast of Peleus and Thetis, decided to take revenge on the gods and threw an apple with the inscription “To the Most Beautiful” to the feasters. Immediately, a dispute arose between three goddesses: Zeus’s wife Hera, the warrior Athena and the goddess of love Aphrodite: who rightfully owns the apple? The goddesses turned to Zeus, but he refused to be the judge. Zeus gave the apple to Hermes and ordered the goddesses to be taken to the vicinity of Troy to the beautiful son of the king of Troy, Paris, who must choose the most beautiful of the three goddesses. Each of them began to convince Paris to give the apple to her, promising the young man great rewards. Hera promised Paris power over all of Asia, and Athena promised military victories and glory. Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite, who promised to reward him with the love of any woman he chooses. At the same time, she described to him in enthusiastic terms Helen the Beautiful, the daughter of the thunderer Zeus and Leda and the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. This led to the abduction of Helen by Paris, which became the cause of the Trojan War. Paris became Aphrodite's favorite, and she helped him in everything. Hera and Athena hated Paris and all the Trojans.
From another source:
Hermes and the three goddesses quickly rushed to the slopes of Ida to Paris. Paris, the son of Priam, was tending his flocks at this time. Before the birth of Paris, his mother Hekabe had a terrible dream: she saw how a fire threatened to destroy all of Troy. Hekabe was frightened and told her dream to her husband. Priam turned to the soothsayer, and he told him that Hekabe would give birth to a son who would be responsible for the death of Troy. Therefore, Priam, when a son was born to Hekabe, ordered his servant Agelaus to take him to high Ida and throw him there in the thicket of the forest. But the son of Priam did not die - he was suckled by a bear. A year later, Agelay found him and raised him as his own son, calling him Paris. Paris grew up among shepherds and became an unusually beautiful young man. He stood out among his peers for his strength. He often saved not only herds, but also his comrades from the attacks of wild animals and robbers, and became so famous among them for his strength and courage that they called him Alexander (slaying men). Paris lived quietly among the forests of Ida. He was quite happy with his lot.
It was to this Paris that the goddesses and Hermes appeared. Paris was frightened when he saw the goddesses and Hermes. He wanted to run away from them, but how could he escape from Hermes, who was as quick as a thought? Hermes stopped Paris and spoke kindly to him, handing him an apple:
Take this apple, Paris,” said Hermes, “you see three goddesses standing in front of you.” Give the apple to the one who is the most beautiful. Zeus commanded you to be a judge in the dispute between the goddesses.
Paris was confused. He looks at the goddesses and cannot decide which of them is more beautiful. Then each of the goddesses began to convince the young man to give the apple to her. They promised Paris great rewards. Hera promised him power over all of Asia, Athena - military glory and victories, and Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful of mortal women, Helen, the daughter of the thunderer Zeus and Leda, as his wife. Paris didn’t think long when he heard Aphrodite’s promise: he gave the apple to her. Thus, Aphrodite was recognized by Paris as the most beautiful of the goddesses. Since then, Paris became Aphrodite's favorite, and she began to help him in everything, no matter what he did. And Hera and Athena hated Paris, they hated Troy and all the Trojans and decided to destroy the city and all the people.
The plot of "The Judgment of Paris" is quite popular in painting. From these paintings you can safely study the history of painting and its movements. It is also very interesting to observe how ideas about female beauty have changed over several centuries.
Le Recueil des histoires de Troyes. De la première destruction de Troyes / Le songe de Pâris / Folio 214v, 1495
Sandro Botticelli,1485-1488
Girolamo di Benvenuto, 1500
Niklaus Manuel Deutsch. Judgment of Paris, 1517-1518
Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1527
Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1528
Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1530
Joan de Joanes, 16th century.
Giovanni Sons, 16th century
Elizabeth I the and Three Goddesses, 1569
Hendrick van Balen the Elder, 1599
Joachim Wtewael - The Judgment of Paris, 1615
Peter Paul Rubens Judgment of Paris, 1636
Peter Paul Rubens Judgment of Paris, 1639
Claude Lorrain, 1645-1646
Carel van Savoyen, ca.1650-1660
Jacob Jordaens - Paris's Choice
Michele Rocca, 1710-1720
Antoine Watteau, CA. 1720
Anton Raphael Mengs, 1757
Francois Boucher
Floris, France - Judgment of Paris, Hermitage
William Blake Judgment of Paris 1811
Henri-Pierre Picou, 19th century
Paul Cezanne, 1862-1864
Philippe Perrault
Henryk Semiradski, 1892
Mikhail Vrubel. Judgment of Paris.
1893. Decorative panel. Canvas, oil.
Source ttp://www.tanais.info/art/pic/vrubel53.html
Enrique Simonet, 1904
Max Klinger, 1886-1887
Franz von Stuck - Three goddesses: Athena, Hera and Aphrodite
GEORGE FREDERICK WATTS The Judgment Of Paris
Pierre August Renoir, c. 1908-1910
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
I. Zaliger, 1939
Sergey Gavrilyachenko
Andrey Aranyshev
Angelica and Christina Tereshchenko
Irina Kochurova
Greek mythology is amazing. She told us about everything that concerns us yesterday, today and tomorrow. I mean yesterday, today and tomorrow of Europe and the so-called European civilization, which is, in essence, just a commentary on Kuhn’s book. One way or another, it is believed that today we are related to this civilization; we are even experiencing events similar to European ones. So Greek mythology becomes especially relevant, and, insofar as the public, and even then only in the person of its best representatives, knows it at the level of this wonderful book, it is always useful to recall the old stories told by the ancient Greeks. These include the story of the court of Paris, which is very instructive.
In general terms, it is just known. Paris was born in Troy, a chaotic and not very happy city, located not in Europe, not in Asia, not belonging to either the West or the East, the capital of a country with great ambitions, but not always justified. In this Troy, everything was somehow little clear and little pleasant, so Paris, an intelligent young man, from childhood had a sense of self, characteristic, to one degree or another, of all Trojan intellectuals. It was wonderfully described by one Trojan poet in brilliant lines:
I was born, poor bastard,
Since my stupid years I have been wandering around as an orphan...
He felt like a stranger in his native Troy, and everything turned out somehow in such a way that his motherland did not love him, and she, the motherland, did not caress him. Paris pretended, “What else was left?” - that it didn’t matter to him, he lived on Mount Ida, that is, as if in Troy, and at the same time not quite in it, and shepherded.
In Troy everything was noisy and humming, now this, now that, now a financial collapse, then another, then there is no freedom of speech, then there is freedom of speech, then everything is bad, then everything is even worse, but in general - nothing, and with Troy can live. His shepherding was expressed in the fact that he walked and thought and tended flocks, read Proust, then Joyce, then all sorts of Trojan writers, for which he even received money, so sometimes there was money. Whether it is good or bad that he behaved this way, we are not discussing now, that is not what we are talking about, but this is the point.
Suddenly, out of the blue, as it seemed to Paris (you and I know that this is not so, that all this was not so unexpected, but it seemed to Paris that everything happened unexpectedly), a divine voice came from heaven, thunderous and inexorable: “That’s it, that’s enough. Stop chilling, get up, go and choose!”
Many sources of the myth, as well as later interpretations, portray the situation as occurring instantly. The divine voice is personified in the figure of Hermes, who flew down from Olympus and almost woke up Paris. She shakes her by the shoulder, pokes a golden apple into her face, and right there, right behind Hermes’s back, three goddesses undress in front of the stunned shepherd prince. I haven’t even had time to rub my eyes yet, but three luxurious beauties are already pushing, pushing with their breasts, rotating their eyes, moving their hips, hair flowing over their shoulders, and they squeal, my God: “To me, to me, give me, to me, most beautiful, give me, I’ll give you I’ll do this, and the other, and the third, just give it to me, me alone, the only and incomparable.”
This is approximately how this event is outlined in various collections of myths, and this is approximately how artists depict it. Yet in reality it was completely different. Even we know that the Judgment of Paris was preceded by the promises of the goddesses: one, they say, promised him power, another - glory, the third - love. It is clear to everyone that the naked goddesses could not shout out their promises right in front of Paris, crushing and interrupting each other. There is no doubt that the goddesses needed an extensive election campaign, which they launched with the Olympic money received from the sacrificial Trojan smoke. This campaign took time, the goddesses blew into Paris’s ears from all sides in advance, and not so suddenly he woke up. I would like to clarify the circumstances of the election of “The Fairest” because they often disappear from mythological retellings, turning Paris’s preference into complete absurdity. Having delved into the details, one can not only justify Paris, but at least understand him. Olympus placed the Trojan prince in an extremely difficult psychological situation. It would be a stretch to call his choice his choice. Judge for yourself.
The three goddesses who appeared to him from Olympus were next.
The first is Hera. A woman with an appearance not devoid of a certain official pleasantness, she had a face completely devoid of any features, so that from time to time her head, which appeared to Paris, broadcast from the clouds above Mount Ida, left him with the feeling of a talking mannequin. The wife of the ruler, she personified power, was directly connected with power, and power spoke through her lips. Hera also promised all the benefits associated with power: they say, nothing will change radically, everything will be like yesterday (it was assumed that Paris liked it yesterday), Asia will be ours, Europe, sooner or later, too, stability, prosperity and a real paradise. It was written on Hera’s official face that she understood stability as the preservation of the Olympic hierarchy, which had long ago distributed all the benefits vertically. Hera personified the strengthening of this vertical. Zeus himself repeatedly hinted to Paris, as well as to other Trojans, very transparently, with soft, but persistent convincing, that Hera is the only one worthy of a golden apple with the inscription “Most Beautiful,” so he has known her, his wife, for a long time, trusts her, and that She has outstanding managerial and organizational skills. Paris, peering into Herina’s moving lips, seducing him, understood that she would become the most beautiful, and then this would forever connect him with the Olympic vertical, so that he would have nothing left to wait for except handouts from the table of the gods; and this did not particularly please him. He was not attracted by the promises of some gigantic construction projects, or by the fact that the Olympic Games would be moved almost forever from Olympia to Troy, so that the entire Mount Ida would be turned into an Olympic town with a well-functioning infrastructure and would put any Elysium in its belt. And on the shore, right in front of his hometown, a skyscraper lighthouse will rise to the heavens, higher than any of Alexandria or Rhodes, and a sacrificial fire, a symbol of Trojan well-being and prosperity, will forever burn on the tower. He will have to sit in the most unattractive corner of his Ida, left over from the construction, and contemplate with admiration the unquenchable flame, from time to time signing praises addressed to Olympus. Well, to hell with this vertical of power, thought Paris, although Paris’s friend Sarpedon, somehow connected with the highest circles of Troy, kept telling him that Hera the best option, if he, Paris, has to choose, and there’s no escape from it. The best is not the best, but Paris still didn’t believe him.
The second contender for the title of Most Beautiful was Pallas Athena. Very proud of the title of the goddess of wisdom, Athena taught mathematics and philosophy somewhere there, which she never missed an opportunity to mention. She was a virgin, that is, pure and unsullied, she insisted that she had not been involved in any scandals, including property ones, so both she herself and her tax return could well have been examined by divine gynecologists. A wise virgin, she declared the most leftist beliefs and all the time shook a scarlet shield with an abbreviation inscribed on it, calling back to the glorious Trojan past, when everyone was equal, united, great and powerful. She condemned the luxury that had overwhelmed Troy, and with a prophetic air said something like: “The guiaurs today glorify Troy, and tomorrow with a forged heel, like a sleeping serpent, they will crush and go away and leave it like that... Troy fell asleep in the face of trouble.” Very expressive. Paris even liked it, because a crazy thought occurred to him that it was with her, with Athena, and with her party, that is, the party of Picasso and Aragon, that he, the Trojan prince, should be. Paris, however, himself understood that this thought was nothing more than an enraged butterfly of his aesthetics, which had flown into his inflamed consciousness, that the goddess of wisdom had nothing to do with Picasso and Aragon, that all calls for a return meant bureaucracy and distribution, and all stories about greatness and the power of the past are bloody myths that no reasonable person wants to repeat. It’s better to have flimsy, corrupt luxury mixed with poverty than to have rations and queues. The scarlet shield was somehow too bloody, and the aegis on Athena’s chest, which she shook with the head of Medusa the Gorgon, evoked not the best memories: the Gorgon was a real monster, and the wars that were once won under her auspices , no matter how glorious they may be, they are also monstrous. All together: the saber-rattling, the abrupt dictatorial speech, the bloodthirsty expression and the soldier’s face were not very attractive: well, a virgin, good, but who would take such a virginity?
The third contender, Aphrodite, had divine charisma. Artistic, like a circus tent, she seduced, seduced and seduced. Golden mountains and rivers full of wine, while the problem of alcoholism will be solved. The promises are the most enchanting, she even agreed that as soon as she becomes the Most Beautiful, all her husbands will start fucking their wives. Either they will have the shortest working day in the world, and there will be nothing else to do, or Viagra will be forcibly distributed free of charge at special points. In general, the goddess of love in all its manifestations. It performed very artistically, reminiscent of the television comedy shows beloved by ordinary Trojans. Savory, scandalous, with lovely squeals - one word: Aphrodite! She was also a naughty girl, she got so playful and naughty once that the Egyptians even refused her a visa when Aphrodite, according to the custom of the Olympians, was once again going to Egypt. She was ready to love everyone: old and young, men and women, Trojan pensioners and Trojan street children. Come, come, I’ll arrange this for you! Everything sounded very seductive, populism in the whirlwind of the Viennese Waltz, also known as Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto. Some kind of goddess of love was, at the same time, flabby. Cosmetics are too much, the bags under the eyes are swollen, and the body is sluggish, fatty, crawling, cellulite, Titian-like. When Aphrodite’s mouth was filled with sweet promises, it seemed that her speech was beginning to be hampered by profuse salivation, which was difficult for the goddess to cope with, produced by the falseness of her jaws. So the promises seemed as false as the worn-out populism of the goddess, the great Aphrodite Pandemos, the devoted servant of the people. To be honest, Paris did not lose his head over the songs of this sweet-voiced bird of happiness and would gladly give the notorious apple to someone else.
There was also some fourth goddess, but she was generally an extra, planted by Olympus with the three main disputants to create the illusion of diversity, and no one took her seriously. She is spoken of only in the apocrypha; the main sources do not even mention her name. Some researchers try to identify her with Loacida, the dryad, arguing that among the high-ranking Olympians she personified the earth and was molded by Prometheus, who competed with the gods, as Laurent Dussaud does in his mythological dictionary (Laurent Dussaud. Dictionnaire Mytho-hermetique, Paris, 1999 ). Karl Rohtbartsch in his fundamental study (Karl Rohtbartsch. Die mythische Beteutung des Pariurteil in der antiken und modernen Kunst, Leipzig, 1938) even reports on a very rare plot of the fight between Loacidas and Aphrodite, who grabbed the dryad by the hair when the goddess of love found out that this Chernavka also claims to be Paris's choice. As proof of the existence of his apocrypha, the author cites a piece of a black-figure amphora that was in the Berlin Museum before the war. I have not yet been able to find other confirmation of this version.
Here they are, contenders for the title of Most Beautiful. Paris liked everyone. However, it was not possible to check the box next to each one. Olympus was supposed to have the only Most Beautiful. Well, what was Paris to do, who should he give the golden apple with the fatal inscription to? Olympus strictly forbade voting against everyone; there was also no possibility of not choosing. Loacida was invented only for Dussault and Rothbarch, so Hera, Athena, Aphrodite - and no one else. All three are so good that you can go crazy. Paris thought and thought, he would figure it out this way, then that way, and...
We all know who Paris gave the apple to. We all know how it ended. What was there to do?
And what would you, dear reader, do in his place? - as a corresponding member of the magazine asks in his articles Big city”, ending discussions about the benefits of silicone breasts or the dangers of thongs.
I have long wanted to take a closer look at the legend of the JUDGMENT OF PARIS. First of all, because it inspired many artists to paint beautiful paintings that have become masterpieces of world painting. You will have to choose among them those that most correspond to your idea of the Judgment of Paris.
BACKGROUND OF THE LEGEND.
Paris is a Trojan prince in ancient Greek mythology, the son of Priam and Hecuba. When Hecuba was pregnant, she had a terrible dream that she gave birth to a burning torch that burned Troy. The soothsayers interpreted the dream as follows: the born son of Hecuba will be responsible for the death of Troy.
When his son was born, Priam ordered him to be left on Mount Ida, hoping that the child would be torn to pieces wild animals. However, the boy was suckled by a she-bear and taken in by a shepherd, who gave him the name “Paris” (“fighter”). After Paris bravely repelled an attack on the shepherds by a gang of robbers, he received a second name - “Alexander”.
LEGEND.
In the vast cave of the centaur Chiron, the Olympian gods celebrated the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Goddess of discord Eris , offended that she was not invited to the wedding feast, decided to take revenge on the gods and threw the feasting apple with the inscription "To the most beautiful".
Immediately between three goddesses: wife ZeusHero, warrior Athena and goddess of love Aphrodite — a dispute arose: who rightfully owns the apple? The goddesses turned to Zeus, but he refused to be the judge. Zeus gave away the apple Hermes and ordered the goddesses to be taken to the surrounding area Troy to my beautiful son King of Troy to Paris , who must choose the most beautiful of the three goddesses.
Each of them began to convince Paris to give the apple to her, promising the young man great rewards. Hera promised Paris power over all Asia , Athena - military victories and glory. Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite, who promised to reward him with the love of any woman he chooses.
At the same time, she described to him in enthusiastic terms Elena the Beautiful , daughter of the thunderer Zeus and Leda, and the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. This led to Elena's kidnapping Paris, which was the reason Trojan War . Paris became Aphrodite's favorite, and she helped him in everything. Hera and Athena hated Paris and all the Trojans.
Jacques Louis David. Helen and Paris.
The theme of choosing the most beautiful of goddesses worried many painters. Each of them imagined it in their own way.
THE COURT OF PARIS - THE FIRST BEAUTY CONTEST.
Fresco from Pompeii.
The Judgment of Paris", Lucas Cranach the Elder, c. 1528,
Peter Paul Rubens, 1632-1633, National Gallery, London
Peter Paul Rubens, 1638-1639, Prado Museum, Madrid
Renoir , 1908-1910, Phillips Collection, Washington
Angelica Kaufman. The Judgment of Paris.
Enrique Simone, 1904
France Floris, ca. 1548
Joachim EutewaelJudgment of Paris
Nereid Thetis and her marriage to Peleus. - Eris: the myth of the apple of discord. - Shepherd Paris is the son of Priam, king of Troy. - Judgment of Paris: the apple of discord is handed over to Aphrodite. - The meaning of the myth about the judgment of Paris.
and this site creator
The ancient Greek writer of late antiquity Libanius, in his work “Progymnasmata,” briefly outlined the myth about the Trojan prince Paris and the apple of discord as follows:
Zeus was delighted with the beauty of Thetis, however, having heard from the Night that the one born from Thetis would be stronger than his father, he did not marry her, but gave her as a wife to Peleia. And the wedding was celebrated on Mount Pelion, resounding with hymns to the gods and the song of Apollo. But Eris, as if she was not participating in the feast, threw a golden apple onto the banquet table. It was written on it that it was a gift from the most beautiful of goddesses. This apple became the cause of a quarrel between the wife of Zeus, Aphrodite and Athena. Zeus avoided judging the dispute by appointing Paris, the son of Priam, as judge. When the goddesses came to the shepherd Paris, victory went to Aphrodite, who promised Paris a marriage with Helen: the son of Priam considered this payment the best, and he rejected the reign over Asia that Hera offered him and the superiority in battles promised by Athena. Paris built a ship, sailed to Sparta, took Helen and destroyed Ilion-Troy. (Libanius, “Progymnasmata”, 2, 27)
Nereid Thetis and her marriage to Peleus
The Nereid Thetis, whose beautiful statue is in the Louvre Museum, was the most beautiful of the sea goddesses.
According to the myth, for eight days the bear came to feed the abandoned child. The shepherd, amazed by this miracle, took the child to himself and raised Paris.
Having become a young man, the royal son Paris, raised as a shepherd, differed from his comrades in his dexterity and extraordinary beauty.
Judgment of Paris: Apple of Discord handed to Aphrodite
When the god Hermes brought Paris to the feast of the gods and explained to him what was going on, Paris began to examine the goddesses with great attention.
Before Paris came to any decision, Pallas Athena (Minerva) approached him with in the following words: “Come closer, son of Priam! Neither the wife of Zeus nor the goddess of love is worthy of attracting your gaze; let only one goddess of valor and courage, one Pallas Athena, deserve your attention and your praise. You, they say, are destined to defend the walls of Troy; know that I can contribute to the liberation of your people and protect you from Bellona's wrath. Decide in my favor, and I will teach you the art of war, and I will make you equal to the bravest warriors."
As soon as Pallas Athena finished, the goddess Hera (Juno) spoke: “If you award me a prize for beauty, I promise you dominion over all of Asia. What do you need military art for? What does war mean for a ruler? Kings command equally the bravest and the most cowardly. And Minerva’s favorites do not always occupy the first rows.”
Following her, the goddess Aphrodite (Venus) approached and, wanting to appear to Paris in all the splendor of her beauty, unbuttoned the buckles of her tunic and, proud of herself, said: “Look and admire all the charms that you see in front of you. Do they not deserve preference over all military virtues? Is not their possession more valuable than all the scepters and kingdoms of Asia? And what do I care about all the helmets and shields? A woman must first of all be distinguished by her beauty. I will not give you valor, but I will give you the most beautiful woman as a friend; I won’t give you the throne, but I will give you Helen.”
As soon as the goddess of love fell silent, Paris awarded her a prize for beauty, and Aphrodite received from his hands an apple, which became a source of discord and fierce battles.
The meaning of the myth of the Judgment of Paris
Judgment of Paris was depicted very often by artists, but due to the difference in interpretation between ancient and modern artists, the meaning of this myth has completely changed.
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Sergey Soloviev Just yesterday it was raining and the sea was gray, For many days now, without leaving the oars, Streams of melted snow flow from the mountains, I am not afraid of your anger, arrogant Atrides. In vain is Asia a great power But then, tearing the purple tapestry from his shoulders: Neither mother's tears nor father's gray hairs Priam of old, accept the blessing. Stop, rook. Like a bird's eye view Who is this woman, lovely as a nymph, |
According to primitive sources, the idea embedded in the myth of the judgment of Paris was purely moral and ethical: it pointed to the contempt with which the ancient Greeks treated their Asian neighbors, considering them to be effete people, incapable of even understanding courage and valor.
The Phrygian Paris, having awarded the apple of discord to Pallas Athena, could have received military valor in return and, thanks to it, strengthened the independence of his country. By giving an apple to the goddess Hera, the Phrygian Paris could gain dominion over Asia. But Paris preferred the passion and pleasures offered to him by Aphrodite, and that is why Troy fell and why Greece, patronized by Pallas Athena and Hera, stood immeasurably higher than Asia.
Although Koluf and other ancient writers mention that the goddess Aphrodite unveiled her clothes before Paris, nevertheless, the artists of antiquity always depicted all three goddesses at the court of Paris fully clothed.
During the period of Roman rule, art continued to depict goddesses dressed. Many works of art on the theme of the Judgment of Paris survive from this period.
Modern art, on the contrary, has constantly depicted and depicts all three goddesses at the court of Paris, devoid of any signs of clothing. In Flaxman, only Venus is naked, but Rubens, Raphael and many other artists depict all three goddesses naked, so that Paris, as it were, awards a prize for plastic beauty.
Rubens, in his beautiful painting “The Judgment of Paris,” in order to further emphasize the sensual character that he wanted to give to his work, placed in his picture, and they, taking this opportunity, look with all their eyes at the naked goddesses. Meanwhile, if we strictly adhere to mythological traditions, not a single satyr would dare to look with such impudence at Pallas Athena, for fear of incurring the wrath of this strict and chaste goddess.
Additions from an Ancient Greek teacher and this site creator
The myth of the apple of discord and the Judgment of Paris in ancient Greek
And now let’s touch on antiquity in the original source - read the story of the rhetorician Libanius about the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the apple of discord and the Judgment of Paris in the ancient Greek original.
Libanii Progymnasmata 2, 27)
Θέτιν ὁ Ζεὺς ἐθαύμασε τοῦ κάλλους, παρὰ δὲ τῆς Νυκτὸς ἀκούσας ὡς ὁ τικτόμενος ἐκ Θέτιδος ἀμείνων ἔσται τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτὸς μὲν οὐ μίγνυται, Πηλεῖ δὲ δίδωσι. καὶ δέχεται μὲν τοὺς γάμους τὸ Πήλιον καὶ θεῶν ὕμνον καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος ᾠδήν. ἡ δὲ Ἔρις, οὐ γὰρ μετεῖχε τῆς θοίνης, μῆλον χρυσοῦν ἀφίησιν εἰς τὴν τράπεζαν. δῶρον εἶναι τῇ καλλίστῃ θεῶν τούτῳ ἐπεγέγραπτο. γίνεται οὖν ἀμφισβήτησις τὸ μῆλον τῇ τοῦ Διὸς γυναικὶ καὶ Ἀφροδίτῃ καὶ Ἀθηνᾷ. ὁ δὲ Ζεὺς φεύγει μὲν αὐτὸς τὴν κρίσιν, ποιεῖ δὲ αὐταῖς Πάριν τὸν Πριάμου κριτήν. ὡς οὖν ἧκον παρὰ τὸν βουκόλον, νικᾷ μὲν Ἀφροδίτη τῷ τῆς Ἑλένης γάμῳ, τοῦτο γὰρ ἄμεινον ὁ Πάρις ἡγήσατο, βασιλείαν δὲ ἣν ἐδίδου τῆς Ἀσίας ἡ Ἥρα, καὶ τὸ μαχόμενον κρατεῖν, ὃ ἦν τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ὑπόσχεσις, παρῃτήσατο. ναυπηγεῖται οὖν καὶ πλεῖ καὶ λαμβάνει τὴν Ἑλένην καὶ ἀπόλλυσι τὸ Ἴλιον.
ZAUMNIK.RU, Egor A. Polikarpov - scientific editing, scientific proofreading, design, selection of illustrations, additions, explanations, translations from ancient Greek and Latin; all rights reserved.
When Peleus, the son of Aeacus, married the daughter of Nereus, Thetis, all the inhabitants of heaven came to his wedding feast on Mount Pelion: they all wanted to honor that feast with their presence and make the newlyweds happy with gifts. Zeus and Hera, the lords of Olympus, Athena and Ares came - this time unarmed, Apollo and Artemis, Aphrodite and Hephaestus, the choirs Or, Charites and Muses and all the Nereids, the sisters of the newlywed. It was fun at the feast of Jacob's son. The youth Ganymede, the master of Zeus, filled the goblets with fragrant nectar; Apollo, the golden-haired god, played the cithara, and the muses sang sweet songs; The Charites and Ori, holding hands, danced a merry dance, and Ares, Hermes and other divine youths intervened in their round dance. Of all the immortals, only Eris, the goddess of discord, did not participate in the merry feast. Angry that she was excluded that day from the host of the gods, Eris wandered near Pelion and plotted revenge, thinking about how to disturb the feast. Unnoticed by anyone, she approached the meeting of the gods and threw into their midst a golden apple plucked from the Hesperides tree; On that apple it was written: “Beauty surpassing all others.” Immediately three goddesses rose up: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, and all three declared their claim to the apple. Neither of them wanted to give up primacy to the other; They argued for a long time and turned to Zeus, demanding that he award who should own the apple. Because of the dispute between the goddesses, they began to call it the “apple of discord.” But Zeus evaded and did not want to be a judge in that dispute; he handed the apple to Hermes and ordered him to go with the goddesses to the Trojan land, to Mount Ida: let Paris judge the goddesses there, let him decide which of the three should own the apple of discord.
Paris was the son of the Trojan king Priam and Hecuba. Before he was born, Hecuba saw a terrible dream, which dream interpreters explained as follows: Hecuba will give birth to a son, and that son will prepare the death of Troy and the entire kingdom of Priam. As soon as the baby was born, King Priam called one of his shepherds, named Agelaus, and ordered him to take the newborn to the top of Ida and throw him there. Five years later, Agelay found the baby unharmed: he was nursed by a bear; the shepherd took the boy to himself, raised him as his own son and named him Paris. So the son of the Trojan king grew up among the shepherds, and grew up and became a handsome and powerful young man. More than once he happened to protect the herds and the shepherds themselves from the attacks of predators and wild animals; for the courage and strength that Paris showed in such cases, he received the name Alexander (“protector of husbands”). The first years of Paris' youth passed peacefully; He was happy with his friendship with the nymph Oenone, the daughter of the river god Kerben - together they wandered along the wooded spurs of the Ida, abundant in streams, and Paris did not want or look for any other happiness. It would be better for him if he remained forever in obscurity, if he did not leave those places where the first years of his serenely happy youth passed!
One day he stood on the top of the wooded Ida, under the shade of pines and oaks, and played the shepherd's pipe; Around him, in the meadow, oxen and sheep ate their fill. Suddenly Paris sees that the messenger of the gods, Hermes, is coming to him and with him are three goddesses; overwhelmed with fear, the young man fled, but Hermes stopped him and calmed him down. “Don’t be afraid, Paris,” cried Hermes, and don’t run from us! Zeus sent these goddesses to you: you must decide which of them surpasses the others in beauty; the one you find best, and give this apple, which caused discord between us.” .
Judgment of Paris about the bone of discord. Attic hydria of the late 6th century. BC
Then Hermes handed Paris the golden apple of discord and disappeared. The goddesses approached the young man, who, by the will of Zeus, became the judge of their beauty. Hera and Athena, the supreme goddesses of Olympus, relied on their greatness and dignity and did not use any means to give themselves greater charm. Aphrodite did not do that: she put on shiny, flowery clothes, soaked in the incense of spring flowers; the Harites and Oras combed her lush curls and decorated them with flowers and gold. The young man Paris was so blinded by the sight of the goddesses that he could not judge their appearance and beauty and thought only about the dignity of the gifts that the goddesses promised him. Hera, the most powerful of the goddesses, was the first to approach Paris and promised, if he awarded the apple of discord to her, to give him strength and power, promised to make him king over Asia and Europe; the warlike Athena, the goddess of wisdom, came second and said that she was ready to give him the glory of victories, the glory of the first among heroes and sages; after Hera and Athena, Aphrodite, who had hitherto stood at a distance, approached the timid young man; looking tenderly at Paris, she took his hand with a smile and promised him, in exchange for the apple of discord, the greatest happiness in love - the possession of Helen, the most beautiful of all mortal wives, similar in beauty to Aphrodite herself. Enchanted by the beauty of the goddess and seduced by her promises, Paris gave the apple of discord to Aphrodite. Since then, she has become Paris's faithful protector and assistant; Athena and Hera hated not only him, but also Troy - from that hour they began to think about how to destroy the homeland of Paris. Thus, the apple of Eris was not only the cause of enmity between the first goddesses of Olympus, but also gave rise to discord and a disastrous, many-year war between the two peoples of Europe and Asia. The conflict began at the wedding feast of the parents of Achilles, one of the most famous heroes of the Trojan War.
Soon after the trial about the bone of discord, a change occurred in the fate of Paris. It happened like this. Hecuba could not forget about her ill-fated son, abandoned, by the will of his father, in the wooded deserts of Ida; The queen was tormented at heart and could not console herself. To dispel her sadness, Priam instituted brilliant games in memory of his son and appointed as a reward to the winner the most beautiful bull from his herds that grazed on Ida. It turned out that the best of King Priam's bulls was in the herd of Paris; the young man could not part with his favorite and he himself led that bull to the city. When Paris saw the competition between the princes and the noblest youths of Troy and neighboring cities, he also wanted to test his strength; He began to fight at the very games that were established in his memory - and defeated all the Trojan princes, even Hector, Deiphobus and Idopeus. This irritated the royal youths, and Deiphobus drew his sword from its sheath and intended to strike the daring shepherd with it. Paris then resorted to the altar of Zeus; Cassandra stood at the altar, preaching to the daughter of the elder Priam: looking at the young man, she saw in him the son of Priam, in whose memory the games were established. Great was the joy of the parents who found their son; admiring him, they led him to their royal palaces. Cassandra, who foresaw the future destinies of her family, opposed the acceptance of Paris into the house of Priam, but, as usual, no one wanted to listen to her. Priam's daughter was sent the gift of providence from Apollo, but for her disobedience the prophetic god imposed a great punishment on her: no one gave faith to the predictions of the perspicacious maiden.
Based on materials from the book by G. Stoll “Myths of Classical Antiquity”
The Judgment of Paris - a well-known story about the choice of the most beautiful goddess, which ultimately led to the Trojan War. Perhaps thanks to him, all subsequent beauty contests began to be held, fortunately without such terrifying consequences, after all, the contenders were already mere mortal beauties.First members of the goddess:
Hera,
Athena
Aphrodite
Paris, a Greek youth who was also distinguished by his extraordinary beauty, was chosen as the judge.
It was customary to portray Paris as a beardless, handsome young man wearing a Phrygian cap.
(Greek: Πάρις, Ἀλέξανδρος), or Alexander, second son of King Priam and Hecuba.
Before his birth, Hecuba dreamed that she gave birth to a fire spreading its flame throughout Troy. When this dream was interpreted in the sense that her son would be the cause of the death of his native city, Priam handed Paris over to the shepherd Agel and ordered him to be carried to Mount Ida and left there. But Paris did not die: first the bear fed him, and then the shepherd Agelus returned for him. So Paris became a shepherd. He received the name Alexander (“reflecting men”) because he bravely defended the herds when he grew up.
On Mount Ida, he married the soothsayer Oenone, the daughter of the river god Kebren, and lived with her in solitude very happily. Later, after all the troubles he had experienced, Paris, seriously wounded by the poisoned arrow of Hercules, returned to Ida to his first wife, the nymph Oenone. But she, angry with Paris for his betrayal, refused to help him. Paris died, and Oenone, who repented of her cruelty, hanged herself out of grief.
So it ended life path Paris, but in legends for many centuries he remains a young handsome man who chose the most beautiful of the goddesses - Aphrodite, and gave preference to love and beauty over power, fame and wealth.
After all, other goddesses promised him just such a reward: Hera - power and wealth, Athena - wisdom and glory, and only Aphrodite - the most beautiful wife, who became the Beautiful Helen, which brought many troubles and misfortunes not only to Paris. All the Trojans hated him as the culprit of the war.
"The Judgment of Paris" OK. 510 BC e. Black-figure Attic hydria. State Antique Collection. Munich
The myth of the Judgment of Paris, as often happens with mythological stories, varied considerably depending on the source. Homer's Iliad, the epic about the Trojan War, contains only a mention of the trial of Paris. More full version The plot was recounted in the Cyprus Tales (“Cyprias”), a lost part of the Epic Cycle after the fire of the Library of Alexandria in 273, from which only fragments and a reliable retelling are known.
Later authors - Ovid (Heroids), Lucian (Dialogues of the Gods) and some others - retelling this plot, introduced additional details into the legend - for example, a golden and magic apple that Paris was supposed to give to the winner.
The oldest artifact depicting the scene of the court of Paris is a bone comb, dated to the 7th century. BC e., found in Sparta; this subject was often used in vase painting. 
The Judgment of Paris (detail of the sarcophagus lid with the myth of Selene and Endymion). Paris, Louvre.
Judgment of Paris (c.1485) (Venice, Giorgio Cini Gallery) Botticelli
Thanks to Ovid, the legend of the Judgment of Paris was well known in medieval Europe. Subsequently, it was developed by such different artists as Cranach, Rubens, Watteau, Claude, Renoir, Gauguin and others.
The Judgment Of Paris, Niklaus Manuel.(Swiss, 1484 - 1530)
Apparently, images of the court of Paris almost instantly gained fame because even the Three Graces did not provide such an opportunity to demonstrate racy, unclad women: naked female bodies were not only presented to the viewer in three different poses - in the traditional image from the front, from the back and profile - they provided a tantalizing contrast to the two fully and appropriately dressed men, and all this - in a completely decent classical context.
Anton Rafael Mengs
Claude Lorrain, c. 1645-1646
Cypriot songs
The poem begins with the story of how Gaia suffered from the multitude of people who overflowed the earth. Zeus took pity and decided to start a war to relieve the Earth.
1 (1)
In those days, it grew throughout the earth beyond counting
The human tribe, crushing Gaia's expanse of buxom.
Zeus, who saw this, took pity on him and, in frequent thought,
The idea was to relieve the all-feeding earth from people,
I will stir up the great battles of Ilion,
The devastation of painful death may come.
Warriors died at Troy: Zeus' will was done.
Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1638-1639
Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1625
As the gods celebrate the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Eris sparks a dispute between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite over which of them is more beautiful. By order of Zeus, Hermes takes the goddesses to Mount Ida, where Alexander (Paris) must judge them. The lines of the first song of the poem have been preserved, describing the outfit of Aphrodite and her companions before the trial (or after it?)
Angelika Kaufman, ca. 1770-1797
2 (4)
She clothed her body in veils: Charites and Oras
They were created by coloring them with spring-colored juices.
Ora step in the following covers: hyacinth, saffron,
The lush violet, the most beautiful ovary of the rose,
Immortal food soaked in the sweet nectar of cups,
In the fragrant bloom of narcissus. And so Aphrodite
She clothed herself in a cloth that held incense in every pore.
Judgment of Paris Anselm Feuerbach
Enrique Simone, 1904
3 (5)
In the host of her servants, Aphrodite with a tender smile,
Having made wreaths of fragrant meadow flowers, she laid
Their head, and behind her goddesses in shiny bandages -
Nymphs, Charites and with them the golden Aphrodite herself,
Singing a song on Ida - a beautiful multi-streamed mountain.
Alexander rules in favor of Aphrodite, who promised him marriage to Helen.
This story became the reason for the Trojan War promised by Zesw to Gaia, in which Hera and Athena, rejected by Paris, sided with the Achaeans.
Max Klinger, ca. 1886-1887
Lucas Cranach the Elder, c. 1530
About a dozen paintings and two engravings of the Judgment of Paris by the German artist Cranach and the artists of his workshop have survived. In fact, Cranach was the first German representative of easel painting to write on this topic, which had previously been explored only in the form of engravings (woodcut, print) and book illustrations. The earliest dated version of Cranach's Judgment of Paris, where one of the goddesses wears a beret, dates back to 1528 (Basel).
"The Judgment of Paris", Lucas Cranach the Elder, c. 1528, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Why is Cranach interesting (in addition to the beret on the naked figure) - in Cranach’s goddesses were also alchemical symbols: Goddesses were also suitable for the sublime goals of spiritual alchemists, who were not interested in the material achievement of obtaining gold, but who strived for omniscience, omnipotence and eternal love and harmony - precisely the three gifts that Athena, Juno and Venus offered Paris during the famous bribery attempt.
Mikhail Vrubel, 1893
Interestingly, in 1503, the Greek scholar Nicholas Marschalk (c. 1470–1525) chose it as the theme for the speech at the degree ceremony of the first twenty-four university baccalaurei (bachelors) of the University of Wittenberg, as a terrifying example of what could happen if to prefer vita voluptaria (sensual life) to vita contemplativa (contemplative life) or even vita activa (active life). This refers to the Trojan War that began after
The deep, moralizing meaning of the myth was probably lost by descendants; we perceive it as an ancient beauty contest and admire the choice of Paris.
And more options for a pastoral beauty contest