| One of the Greek Goddesses you don't hear | | | | place). |
| about too much is Eris, the Goddess of discord, | | | | It was decided that Zeus himself should be the |
| strife and chaos. Which is surprising really, as she | | | | judge of who of the three Goddesses should |
| was the root cause of the Trojan War. | | | | have the apple. Being a crafty old soul and not |
| Eris's story starts with the wedding of Peleus and | | | | wanting to incur the wrath of two of his three |
| the sea nymph Thetis. Because of her reputation | | | | favourite Goddesses, Zeus delegated the task to |
| for causing chaos and destruction wherever she | | | | Paris, the young prince of Troy. |
| went, she was not invited to the wedding. This | | | | All three Goddesses tried to brie Paris in their own |
| made her angry, offended and upset, so she | | | | special way. |
| decided to get her own back in her own special | | | | Hera offered him power over the whole of |
| way. | | | | Europe and Asia. |
| Eris carved an apple out of pure gold and inscribed | | | | Athene offered to make him the most wise and |
| it with the Greek word ????????, which means | | | | skillful warrior who ever existed. |
| "for the fairest". She then sneaked into the | | | | Aphrodite promised him the love of the world's |
| wedding under disguise and left the apple on the | | | | most beautiful woman. |
| table with the other gifts. | | | | Paris liked the sound of Aphrodite's promise best, |
| Now that little apple was the cause of much | | | | so awarded the apple to her. As a result, he won |
| disagreement amongst the hallowed guests at the | | | | the love of Helen of Sparta. Unfortunately, Helen |
| wedding. Of course, every single Goddess thought | | | | was already married to Menelaus, so when Paris |
| the apple should be rightfully hers (and some of | | | | eloped with her to Troy, Menelaus was furious. |
| the Gods too, if the truth be told!). The | | | | Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon set of in |
| disagreement soon turned into a fight and then | | | | hot pursuit, with the weight of the entire Greek |
| into a full blown riot as all the guests argued about | | | | army behind them. Helen was of course "the face |
| who should be the rightful owner of the apple. In | | | | that launched a thousand ships". The Greeks |
| the end, it came down to a three-way fight | | | | waged war on Troy for ten long years. |
| between Hera, Aphrodite and Athene (surprisingly | | | | So it seems that Eris certainly deserved her title |
| not Thetis, whose wedding it was in the first | | | | as Goddess of discord, strife and chaos! |