Paris (), also known as Alexander (), is a figure from Greek mythology who appears in the numerous stories about the Trojan War, including the Iliad. He was 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,E. Laroche, Les noms des Hittites (Paris: 1966), 325, 364; cited in Calvert Watkins, “The Language of the Trojans”, Troy and the Trojan War: A Symposium Held at Bryn Mawr College, October 1984, ed. Machteld Johanna Mellink (Bryn Mawr, Penn: Bryn Mawr Commentaries, 1986), 57. explained as compound of Luwian 𒉺𒊑 (pari "foremost") and 𒍣𒋾𒅖 (zitis "man"), so "foremost, primary man"."Πάρις", in Georg Autenrieth, A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York 1891: Harper and Brothers.
He is also referred to as "Alexandros", which is the more common name for him in Homeric epic.Brown, para. 1. According to mythical tradition, he received this name (which means or ) because he was able to survive being abandoned in the wilderness as an infant.Grimal, s.v. Paris, p. 344. The name has been noted for its similarity to Alaksandu, a king of the Late Bronze Age city of Wilusa, which has been identified with the archaeological site of Troy.
Ludolf Malten had proposed that the name Paris is actually related to Parium, originally meaning the eponym founder of the polis. Leo Klejn considered the name a relatively late addition to the tradition, pointing out that it is never used with the constant epithets typical for the oral epic song. He believed that the name Alexander was the original name at the time when abducting a woman was considered heroic, and started being replaced (along with Alexander's depiction as a great hero, still surviving in a number of places in the Iliad) when the morals changed against that view.Incorporeal Heroes: The Origins of Homeric Images, Leo Klejn, 2012
The name "Paris" is etymologically unrelated to that of France's capital city, derived from the Gallic Parisii tribe, although it had been a misconceived folk etymology during the medieval period.
Description In Book 3 of Homer's Iliad, Paris is described as "godlike" ( in Ancient Greek) in outward cosmetic beauty.Homer, Iliad 3.16 (Lattimore, p. 100; West 2006, p. 89). Philostratus wrote that he did not allow dirt to settle on his hair, even in the midst of battle. He had an aquiline nose, polished his nails, and had his eyes painted.Philostratus, Heroica 725. According to Philostratus, he was eighteen years old when he travelled to Sparta.Philostratus, Heroica 724.
Paris was described by the chronicler Malalas 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".Malalas, Chronography 5.105. 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."Dares Phrygius, 12
Children In a tale from the 1st-century BC writer Parthenius, a love affair between Paris and a nymph, Oenone, resulted in a son named Corythus.Stoevesandt, para. 2; Parthenius, 34. Parthenius attributes this story to Hellanicus's Troica and to Cephalon of Gergitha. Parthenius relates that in another version Corythus was the child of Paris and Helen,Parthenius, 34. Parthenius attributes this version to Nicander. and a scholium on the Odyssey mentions that the couple were said to have a son named either Corythus or Helenus.Frazer, note 1 to Apollodorus, 3.11.1; Scholia on Homer's Odyssey, 4.11. According to the chronicle of the Trojan War attributed to Dictys Cretensis, the pair had three sons: Bunomus, Corythus, and Idaeus,Dictys Cretensis, 5.5. and according to The Cypria they had together Aganus.The Cypria, Fragment 9 (Scholiast on Euripides, Andr. 898) One account also mentions that he had a daughter with Helen, whom he wanted to name Alexandra, but Helen named her after herself after winning game contest against Paris. This younger Helen was killed by Hecuba during the fall of Troy.Photius, Bibliotheca 190
Mythology
Childhood Paris was a child of Priam, the king of Troy, by his wife Hecuba.Brown, para. 1. 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.For a comparison of hero births, including Sargon, Moses, Karna, Oedipus, Paris, Telephus, Perseus, Romulus, Gilgamesh, Cyrus, Jesus, and others, see: Rank, Otto. The Myth of the Birth of the Hero. Vintage Books: New York, 1932.
Paris's noble birth was betrayed by his outstanding beauty and intelligence. In one account of his childhood, he routed a gang of cattle-thieves and restored the animals they had stolen to the herd. While on Mount Ida in Phrygia, Paris became enamoured with the nymph Oenone, a daughter of the river god Cebren. 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.Parthenius, Love Romances, 4; see also Apollodorus, 3.12.6.
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.Anonymous, Excidium Troie.
Recognition Priam and Hecuba established annual funeral games in honour of their presumed-dead son. When Paris reached young manhood, men from the palace took his favourite bull as prize for the competition. He followed them to Troy, deciding to compete for the animal.Hyginus, Fabulae, 91. Paris won every challenge, defeating even the nobles. Prince Deiphobus, embarrassed from losing to a slave, attempted to kill his long lost brother. Paris took refuge at an altar and was there saved by the prophet Cassandra revealing his true heritage. He was welcomed back as a prince. Soon after, he left for Sparta.
Alternative stories Byzantine authors offer different versions of Paris's childhood story.
According to John Malalas, when Paris was born, Priam consulted the oracle of Apollo. The oracle warned that the child would destroy the Phrygian kingdoms when he reached the age of thirty. Fearing the prophecy, Priam renamed the boy Alexander and secretly sent him to the countryside to be raised by a farmer. To keep him hidden, Priam also built a strong fortified settlement in the countryside, naming it Parion. Paris grew up there and received his education. After thirty-two years had passed, Priam believed the prophecy had expired. He brought Paris back to Troy with great honor and later sent him on a religious mission to Greece to offer sacrifices to Apollo.Tzetzes, Antehomerica
John Tzetzes offers a similar account. He writes that Hecuba, early in her pregnancy, dreamed she was giving birth to a fiery beast that would destroy Troy. Prophets interpreted her dreams and warned that her unborn child, Paris, would bring disaster to the city. Despite this, Hecuba gave birth, and Priam, fearing for the kingdom, consulted the oracle of Apollo. The oracle confirmed that Paris would cause Troy's destruction upon reaching the age of thirty. Priam then sent Paris to grow up in the countryside, in a city he built called Parion. There, Paris received his education and training. After thirty years, Priam brought Paris back to Troy and later sent him to Argos to offer sacrifices to Apollo to avert disaster.Ioannis Malalas, Chronicle, Book 5 Trojan Times, 5.91-5.93
The Suda provides a slightly different detail, stating that the place was called Amandros, where Paris spent thirty years growing up and receiving his education. Later, the city was renamed Parion after him.Suda, Parion
Judgement of Paris
In celebration of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, Lord Zeus, ruler and a chief deity 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.Heroides 16, Paris’ letter to Helen. Ovid. 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.