#paris mythology

A wall fresco of Paris abducting Helen by force, in a villa in Venice (Italy, mid-1700s).

Paris was asked to judge a beauty contest between Hera, Aphrodite and Athena.  Each tried to bribe him, and he chose Aphrodite, because she promised him the most beautiful woman in the world – Helen of Sparta.

Helen was married to King Menelaus of Sparta, which Aphrodite hadn’t actually told Paris.  He broke into Menelaus’ house to steal her from him.  In some accounts, she fell in love with him and went willingly; in others, she was taken by force.

Helen was famous for her beauty, and Odysseus advised her father Tyndareus to make all her suitors promise to defend her marriage to the man he chose for her.  Therefore, when Paris abducted Helen, Menelaus was able to call them to help him get her back.  This started the Trojan War.