Paris, also known as 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.
Prince Paris with apple by H.W. Bissen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Paris receives Hermes who leads Athena, Hera and Aphrodite. Painting on terracotta panels, 560–550 BC
El Juicio de Paris by Enrique Simonet, c. 1904. Paris is studying Aphrodite, who is standing before him naked. The other two goddesses watch nearby.
Judgement of Paris, c. 1801, Capodimonte porcelain (Capitoline Museums, Rome)
The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the 12th or 13th century BCE. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology, and it has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad. The core of the Iliad describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy; the Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the war's heroes. Other parts of the war are described in a cycle of epic poems, which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid.
The Golden Apple of Discord by Jacob Jordaens
The Burning of Troy (1759–1762), oil painting by Johann Georg Trautmann
Polyxena Sarcophagus in Troy Museum
The Judgement of Paris (1599) by Hendrick van Balen the Elder. Gemäldegalerie, Berlin