The Trojan War
The Trojan War was a legendary war between the now-ruined city of Troy and the Greek. It's believed to be based on an actual war around 1250 BC.
The entire Trojan War story is told in seven different poems, known collectively as the Epic Cycle (awesome name!).
Basically here's a really short summary:
First, the gods were celebrating (not sure why), so they held a party up on Mount Olympus and invited all the gods/goddesses that lived there. Except for Eris, the Goddess of Discord. Because everyone knows that wherever Eris goes, trouble would follow. So anyways, Eris was, understandably, pretty insulted, so she shows up in the middle of the party, when everyone's having fun, and throws a golden apple (later known as the Apple of Discord) into the crowd. On the apple were the words 'For the fairest'.
Aphrodite exclaims, "Oh, that'll be for me, of course!" Because you know she's the goddess of beauty.
But then Hera declares that she's the fairest (not sure where she got that idea), and the two goddesses start to argue.
Then Athena butts in and says, "I have the most inner beauty!"
The three goddesses then ask the other gods to judge who the apple should be given to, but of course none of them wanted to because then the other two goddesses (who didn't get the apple) would hate them. So Zeus decides to pick on some mortal to judge them instead. He sends Hermes (messenger of the gods) to grab some random guy, so Hermes does, and finds Paris, the Prince of Troy.
Then Hermes summons the three goddesses in question, gives Paris the golden apple, says, "OK, just give the apple to one of these goddesses. See you later," and leaves poor Paris to deal with everything himself.
"Um," he says nervously, looking over each of the goddesses.
After a while, Hera gets impatient and tries to bribe him into giving her the apple. "Paris," Hera whispers, "I am the queen of the gods. If you give me the apple, I will give you great power. Half of the world will be yours."
Pretty tempting. Athena then steps in and says, "If you give me the apple, you shall be the wisest man on earth."
Not wanting to be left out, Aphrodite quickly says, "If you hand it to me, I will give you the love of the most beautiful woman in the world! She is as beautiful as myself." If youy've seen Aphrodite in person(obviously you haven't), that's saying a lot.
So Paris decides to give the golden apple to Aphrodite (why, I have no idea).
Now, if you've read
The entire Trojan War story is told in seven different poems, known collectively as the Epic Cycle (awesome name!).
Basically here's a really short summary:
First, the gods were celebrating (not sure why), so they held a party up on Mount Olympus and invited all the gods/goddesses that lived there. Except for Eris, the Goddess of Discord. Because everyone knows that wherever Eris goes, trouble would follow. So anyways, Eris was, understandably, pretty insulted, so she shows up in the middle of the party, when everyone's having fun, and throws a golden apple (later known as the Apple of Discord) into the crowd. On the apple were the words 'For the fairest'.
Aphrodite exclaims, "Oh, that'll be for me, of course!" Because you know she's the goddess of beauty.
But then Hera declares that she's the fairest (not sure where she got that idea), and the two goddesses start to argue.
Then Athena butts in and says, "I have the most inner beauty!"
The three goddesses then ask the other gods to judge who the apple should be given to, but of course none of them wanted to because then the other two goddesses (who didn't get the apple) would hate them. So Zeus decides to pick on some mortal to judge them instead. He sends Hermes (messenger of the gods) to grab some random guy, so Hermes does, and finds Paris, the Prince of Troy.
Then Hermes summons the three goddesses in question, gives Paris the golden apple, says, "OK, just give the apple to one of these goddesses. See you later," and leaves poor Paris to deal with everything himself.
"Um," he says nervously, looking over each of the goddesses.
After a while, Hera gets impatient and tries to bribe him into giving her the apple. "Paris," Hera whispers, "I am the queen of the gods. If you give me the apple, I will give you great power. Half of the world will be yours."
Pretty tempting. Athena then steps in and says, "If you give me the apple, you shall be the wisest man on earth."
Not wanting to be left out, Aphrodite quickly says, "If you hand it to me, I will give you the love of the most beautiful woman in the world! She is as beautiful as myself." If youy've seen Aphrodite in person(obviously you haven't), that's saying a lot.
So Paris decides to give the golden apple to Aphrodite (why, I have no idea).
Now, if you've read