THE APPLEOF DISCORD

The gods were having a big party

on Mount Olympus.

Eris, the horrible goddess of

trouble, had no invitation. She was

very angry.

When everybody was eating and

drinking and having a really good

time, she appeared with a golden

apple and threw it into the middle

of the hall.

The apple had a

message:

“For the most

beautiful goddess.”

Three goddesses thought

they were the most beautiful

goddesses.

Hera, Athena and Aphrodite

all wanted the apple, and

they started to fight.

Zeus, the king of the

gods, finally said, “Stop!

Let’s ask a beautiful man

to decide. Let’s ask

Paris, the shepherd.” -

Poor Paris!

Hera, the queen of the gods, said

to Paris, “Give me the apple and

you can have great power.”

Athena, the goddess of war and

wisdom, said to Paris, “Give me

the apple and you can win fights

and be very intelligent.”

Aphrodite, the goddess of

love, said to Paris, “Give me the

apple and you can have the most

beautiful woman in the

world, Helen of Sparta.”

Paris liked Aphrodite’s idea very

much. He gave the apple to

Aphrodite.

Some time later, Paris met Helen

of Sparta. She was very beautiful

and he fell in love with her.

Unfortunately she was married to

the King of Sparta, but that was

not an obstacle. He took Helen

back with him to Troy.

The King of Sparta was angry

and ordered a thousand

ships to sail to Troy to get

Helen back, and that was the

start of a famous war…

The Trojan War.