Paris (mythology)

Paris of Troy (), also known as Paris or Alexander (), is a mythological figure in the story of the Trojan War. He appears in numerous Greek legends and works of Ancient Greek literature such as the ''Iliad''. In myth, he is prince of Troy, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, and younger brother of Prince Hector. His elopement with Helen sparks the Trojan War, during which he
fatally wounds Achilles.

Name

The Ancient Greek name Πάρις is probably of Luwian origin, and is comparable to ''Parizitis'', attested as a Hittite scribe's name. The name is etymologically unrelated to that of France's capital city, derived from the Gallic Parisii tribe.

Description

Paris was described by the chronicler Malalas in his account of the ''Chronography'' as "well-grown, sturdy, white, good nose, good eyes, black pupils, black hair, incipient beard, long-faced, heavy eyebrows, big mouth, charming, eloquent, agile, an accurate archer, cowardly, hedonist". Meanwhile, in the account of Dares the Phrygian, he was illustrated as "fair, tall, and brave. His eyes were very beautiful, his hair soft and blond, his mouth charming, and his voice pleasant. He was swift, and eager to take command."

Family

Paris and the nymph Oenone had a son, Corythus. By Helen, he had Bunomus, Aganus ("gentle"), Idaeus and a daughter also called Helen.

Mythology

Childhood

Paris was a child of Priam and Hecuba (see the List of children of Priam). Just before his birth, his mother dreamed that she gave birth to a flaming torch. This dream was interpreted by the seer Aesacus as a foretelling of the downfall of Troy, and he declared that the child would be the ruin of his homeland. On the day of Paris's birth, it was further announced by Aesacus that the child born of a royal Trojan that day would have to be killed to spare the kingdom, being the child that would bring about the prophecy. Though Paris was indeed born before nightfall, he was spared by Priam. Hecuba was also unable to kill the child, despite the urging of the priestess of Apollo, one Herophile. Instead, Paris's father prevailed upon his chief herdsman, Agelaus, to remove the child and kill him. The herdsman, unable to use a weapon against the infant, left him exposed on Mount Ida, hoping he would perish there (cf. Oedipus). He was, however, suckled by a she-bear. Returning after nine days, Agelaus was astonished to find the child still alive and brought him home in a backpack ( Greek ''pḗra'', hence by folk etymology Paris's name) to rear as his own. He returned to Priam bearing a dog's tongue as evidence of the deed's completion.

Paris's noble birth was betrayed by his outstanding beauty and intelligence. While still a child, he routed a gang of cattle-thieves and restored the animals they had stolen to the herd, thereby earning the surname Alexander ("protector of men"). It was at this time that Oenone became Paris's first lover. She was a nymph from Mount Ida in Phrygia. Her father was Cebren, a river-god or, according to other sources, she was the daughter of Oeneus. She was skilled in the arts of prophecy and medicine, which she had been taught by Rhea and Apollo, respectively. Through her ability to see the future, she foresaw Paris leaving her but loved him deeply even so. When Paris later left her for Helen, she told him that if he ever was wounded, he should come to her, for she could heal any injury, even the most serious wounds.

Paris's chief distraction at this time was to pit Agelaus's bulls against one another. One bull began to win these bouts consistently. Paris began to set it against rival herdsmen's own prize bulls and it defeated them all. Finally, Paris offered a golden crown to any bull that could defeat his champion. Ares responded to this challenge by transforming himself into a bull and easily winning the contest. Paris gave the crown to Ares without hesitation. It was this apparent honesty in judgement that prompted the gods of Olympus to have Paris arbitrate the divine contest among Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena.

Judgement of Paris

In celebration of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, Lord Zeus, father of the Greek pantheon, hosted a banquet on Mount Olympus. Every deity and demi-god had been invited, except Eris, the goddess of strife (no one wanted a troublemaker at a wedding). For revenge, Eris threw the golden Apple of Discord inscribed with "For the most beautiful" () into the party, provoking a squabble among the attendant goddesses over for whom it had been meant.

The goddesses thought to be the most beautiful were Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, and each one claimed the apple. They started a quarrel so they asked Zeus to choose one of them. Knowing that choosing any of them would bring him the hatred of the other two, Zeus did not want to take part in the decision. He thus appointed Paris to select the most beautiful.

Escorted by Hermes, the three goddesses bathed in the spring of Mount Ida and approached Paris as he herded his cattle. Paris was frightened at the appearance of the deities, but Hermes assured him it was the will of Zeus. Some artistic depictions have the goddesses appear unclad before the mortal. Still, Paris could not decide, as all three were ideally beautiful, so the goddesses attempted to bribe him to choose among them. Hera offered ownership of all of Europe and Asia. Athena offered skill in battle, wisdom and the abilities of the greatest warriors. Aphrodite offered the love of the most beautiful woman on Earth: Helen of Sparta. Paris chose Helen and thereby Aphrodite.

However, Helen was already married to King Menelaus of Sparta (a fact Aphrodite neglected to mention). When Menelaus was away from home, Paris seduced Helen into running away with him. In the Iliad, Helen notes how she had followed Paris to Troy, and Apollodorus describes the pair taking valuables together. Some sources claim Paris had to raid Menelaus's house to steal Helen from him, but others say he was first welcomed in.

The Spartans' expedition to retrieve Helen from Paris in Troy is the mythological basis of the Trojan War. This triggered the war because Helen was famous for her beauty throughout Achaea (ancient Greece), and had many suitors of extraordinary ability. Therefore, following Odysseus's advice, her father Tyndareus made all suitors promise to defend Helen's marriage to the man he chose for her. When Paris took her to Troy, Menelaus invoked this oath. Helen's other suitors, who between them represented most of Achaea's strength, wealth, and military prowess, were obliged to help bring her back. Thus, the whole of Greece moved against Troy in force and the Trojan War began.

File:Large amphora, Melian style, Paros, 7th c BC, AM Paros A 2652, 075954.jpg, 7th-century BC Melian pithamphora depicting the Judgement of Paris, Archaeological Museum of Paros.
File:Painting on terracotta panels of the judgement of Paris from Cerveteri (Boccanera tomb) - London BM 1889-0410-1 - 02.jpg, Paris receives Hermes who leads Athena, Hera and Aphrodite. Painting on terracotta panels, 560–550 BC
File:Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris - 1904.jpg, '' El Juicio de Paris'' by Enrique Simonet, . Paris is studying Aphrodite, who is standing before him naked. The other two goddesses watch nearby.
Image:Julgamento-de-páris.jpg, Judgement of Paris, , Capodimonte porcelain ( Capitoline Museums, Rome)

Trojan War

Homer's ''Iliad'' casts Paris as unskilled and cowardly. Although Paris readily admits his shortcomings in battle, his brother Hector scolds and belittles him after he runs away from a duel with Menelaus that was to determine the end of the war. His preference for bow and arrow emphasizes this, since he does not follow the code of honor shared by the other heroes.

Early in the epic, Paris and Menelaus duel in an attempt to end the war without further bloodshed. Menelaus easily defeats Paris, though Aphrodite spirits him away before Menelaus can finish the duel. Paris is returned to his bedchambers, where Aphrodite forces Helen to be with him.

Paris's second attempt at combat is equally fated: rather than engage the Greek hero Diomedes in hand-to-hand combat, Paris wounds Diomedes with an arrow through the foot. In response to Paris's unseemly crowing, Diomedes disparages him in multiple ways: "Archer, you who without your bow are nothing, slanderer and seducer, if you were to be tried in single combat fighting in full armour, your bow and arrows would serve you little stead. Vain is your boast that you have scratched the sole of my foot. I care no more than if a girl or some silly boy had hit me. A worthless coward can inflict but a light wound, but when I wound a man, though I but graze his skin it is another matter, for my weapon will lay him out." (Iliad, Book 11, 376)

Later, after slaying Hector and other heroes, Achilles dies by an arrow of Paris with Apollo's help. According to Hyginus (Fabulae, 107) Apollo disguised himself as Paris.

Later in the war, after Philoctetes mortally wounds Paris, Helen makes her way to Mount Ida where she begs Paris's first wife, the nymph Oenone, to heal him. Still bitter that Paris had spurned her for his birthright in the city and then forgotten her for Helen, Oenone refuses. Helen returns alone to Troy, where Paris dies later the same day. In another version, Paris himself, in great pain, visits Oenone to plead for healing but is refused and dies on the mountainside. When Oenone hears of his funeral, she runs to his funeral pyre and throws herself in its fire.

After Paris's death, his brother Deiphobus married Helen and was then killed by Menelaus in the sack of Troy.

File:Helen and Paris, Pompeii.jpg, ''Seduction of Helen by Paris'', antique fresco in Pompeii, 1st century
File:The face that launched 1,000 ships.jpg, ''Abduction of Helen'', ceiling fresco, Venetian, mid-18th century
File:Les Amours de Pâris et d'Hélène (painting by Jacques-Louis David).jpg, ''The Love of Helen and Paris'' by Jacques-Louis David (oil on canvas, 1788, Louvre, Paris)
File:Fresco depicting the meeting of Helen and Alexandros (Paris), Black Room, Pompeii.jpg, Antique fresco from Pompeii, showing Trojan prince Paris with Helen of Troy (1st century CE)

Later treatments

* In Dante's '' Inferno'', Paris is one of the sinners punished for lust alongside Helen in the second circle.
* Jacques Offenbach, Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy's 1864 operetta '' La belle Hélène'' tells a droll version of the seduction of Helen by Paris, who is the lead male role.
* The 1951 Swedish film '' Sköna Helena'' is an adapted version of Offenbach's operetta, starring Max Hansen and Eva Dahlbeck.
* In the 1956 film '' Helen of Troy'', Paris, as the main character, is portrayed as a heroic character who at first worships peace and love but is later forced to take up arms against the treacherous Greeks.
* In prose he appears as the main character in Rudolf Hagelstange's 1959 book ''Spielball der Götter'' (Game of Gods).
* In the 1961 film '' Trojan Horse'', Paris is played by Warner Bentivegna.
* In the 1962 film '' The Fury of Achilles'', Paris is played by Roberto Risso.
* The Judgement of Paris and its aftermath are the subject of Michael Tippett's 1962 opera '' King Priam''.
* The story was also made into a 2003 musical, ''Paris'', written by Jon English and David Mackay. Barry Humphries starred in the original performance as Sinon.
* In the 2004 Hollywood film ''Troy'', the character Paris was played by actor Orlando Bloom. He is not killed by Philoctetes in this version, but leaves the falling city of Troy together with Helen and survives. Paris is portrayed as an irresponsible prince who put his romance before his family and country.

See also

* List of children of Priam
* Alaksandu of Wilusa, a 13th-century BC Anatolian king who has been associated with Paris

Citations

General references

* Graves, Robert, ''The Greek Myths'', Harmondsworth, London, England, Penguin Books, 1960.
* Graves, Robert, ''The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition.'' Penguin Books Limited. 2017.
* Homer, ''The Iliad'' with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924
Online version at the Perseus Digital xLibrary

* Homer, ''Homeri Opera'' in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library

* Parthenius, ''Love Romances'' translated by Sir Stephen Gaselee (1882-1943), S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 69. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1916.
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Parthenius, ''Erotici Scriptores Graeci, Vol. 1''. Rudolf Hercher. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1858
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library

* Quintus Smyrnaeus, '' The Fall of Troy'' translated by Way. A. S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 19. London: William Heinemann, 1913
Online version at theoi.com
* Quintus Smyrnaeus, ''The Fall of Troy''. Arthur S. Way. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1913
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library

External links

''The Judgement of Paris'' by William Etty
at the
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Paris (Mythology)
Characters in the Aeneid
Characters in the Iliad
Characters in the Divine Comedy
Children of Priam
Mythological Greek archers
Princes in Greek mythology
Trojan Leaders
Deeds of Aphrodite