Songs on Bronze: The Greek Myths Made Real by Nigel Spivey

Author:Nigel Spivey [Spivey, Nigel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-374-26663-9
Publisher: Farrar • Straus • Giroux
Published: 2005-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

III

WAR ABOUT TROY

THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS

All wars have a place of birth. This war was born at a celebration.

It was not a brawl among the guests, or any kind of rumpus like that. The occasion itself was one of solemn joy. The veteran Argonaut Peleus was marking the anniversary of his love for Thetis—the most fetching of sea nymphs that ever sat on a rock and sang as she combed her golden hair. They had been young lovers. Then, while Peleus adventured, Thetis bore him a fine sapling of a son, whom she called Achilles and treasured closely. Returned from all his voyagings, Peleus proposed to confirm Thetis as his wife. He called upon friends far and wide to witness the day. He prayed that the Olympians too might bless the festivities. And they did. Poseidon provided a marvelous coach for bride and groom, a carriage built of crested shells and mother-of-pearl. Apollo piped music for a chorus and procession, and the three supreme ladies of heaven—Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite—danced along with tambourines. Even toiling Hephaistos left his anvil to take breath and raise a mug of wine to the happy couple.

Only one Olympian onlooker failed to share in the general merriment.

At first Ares watched the proceedings with boredom, then with anger. Joy on earth? Whoever said this was part of the bargain for mortal existence? Happiness was not a right, but a reward. It was time to remind these revelers of that basic law. His fellow deities seemed to have lost their heads. It was left to him, Ares, to reassert divine order in the world.

But, he brooded, he would do so cleverly. Nothing too drastic—just set things in motion; plant the germ of discontent.

He found what he needed in the workshop of Hephaistos. It was an apple made of gold. Ares wondered if he might add it to the celebrations. Hephaistos, banging away, seemed happy enough. So Ares took the apple. But Ares had no intention of making a gift to Peleus and Thetis. Instead, he tied a label to it, and placed the apple prominently on the feasting table laid out for Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. The mock fruit shone enticingly amid all the edible delicacies there. On the label was simply written: “For the loveliest one of all.”

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