Judgement of Paris

The Judgement of Paris was a test of the mortal Paris, the prince of Troy, by the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite.
==Background==
===Paris, the Prince of Troy===
Paris was the son of the the king of Troy, king Priam. Upon his birth, king Priam received a prophecy about how when Paris grew up, he would cause the downfall of Troy. The oracle who gave the prophecy urged him to kill Paris right then and there, but, king Priam didn't have the heart to do so. So, he came up with a solution, instead of killing Paris, he would send him far away to become a shepherd, little did he know, that he should've killed Paris instead.
===Marriage of Peleus and Thetis ===
It was prophesied that the Nereid Thetis, were she to ever conceive, would give birth to a son who would become even greater than his father. Upon receiving word of this, Zeus and Poseidon, both of whom had previously tried to court Thetis, arranged for her to be married to a mortal man instead. They set their sights on the mortal hero Peleus, who had joined Heracles on the latter’s expedition to Troy and sailed with Jason as one of the Argonauts. Peleus was instructed to ambush Thetis, and once he had her in his grip, to bind her tightly, as she would try to escape by changing shape. Peleus found the nymph lying on a beach shore, and, as instructed, took hold of her — Thetis herself took on a variety of different forms, including that of a lion and serpent, but found herself unable to escape the hero’s grasp. Subdued, she then agreed to marry him. The wedding was held atop Mount Pelion, home of the immortal centaur Chiron, and all of the gods and goddesses were invited to attend, with the only exception being Eris, for she was the goddess of discord. In revenge, during the wedding party, she tossed a golden apple into the room, marked “for the fairest” on it, leading to a quarrel between three goddesses who had laid claim to the apple — namely Athena, Hera and Aphrodite. Zeus, not wanting them to get angry, then sent Hermes to tell the first farmer he found to judge them. 
==Judgement of Paris==
Hermes eventually found Paris, and chose him to judge the goddesses Zeus then sent Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite down to Paris, so he would judge which of the goddesses was "the fairest" and which of them would receive the golden apple. Each of the goddesses tried to persuade Paris to pick them by saying that if he picked one of them, they would reward him with a gift:
*Hera offered him the ownership of Asia Minor 
* Athena offered to give him, his family, and Troy many battle skills that would allow them to overcome their enemies in war if she was picked 
*Aphrodite offered to give him the most beautiful woman alive (Helen of Troy), if she was picked
Paris thought that both Hera and Athena's gifts to him weren't great because at the time his family and Troy were not at war. However, Aphrodite's promise of the most beautiful woman in the world appeared to him as the best gift he could ask for.
==Result of Judgement==
Paris refused both Hera and Athena's gifts. He declared Aphrodite was the fairest and rewarded her with the apple. This however, made both Hera and Athena furious as they both disliked Aphrodite, thought that her gift was unfair, and that a mortal such as Paris was a poor choice for judging who the fairest was. Angrily, they transformed into their godly forms and ascended together to Mount Olympus, which left Aphrodite back with Paris on the earth. Paris said that he would've picked them to prevent them from becoming angry. Aphrodite however, rejoiced in the fact that she was now the "fairest" goddess and told him that he should rejoice as well, for he would be given the hand of Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman on earth. Little did he know, that there was one small problem, and that was that Helen already had a husband: the king of Sparta, Menelaus.
Category:Events
Category:The Dungeon Master's Iliad events