Paris

Also known as: Alexander / Alexandros / the herdsman Paris · Family: Troy · Role: son of Priam · First appears: Aeschylus, Agamemnon — Scene 1

Paris, also known as Alexander, Alexandros, and the herdsman of Ida, was the son of Priam. When he was born, Cassandra urged that he be killed lest Priam’s empire be betrayed, but the princes ignored her warning. At Ida, Hermes brought Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera before him in their beauty contest; Paris awarded the golden prize to Aphrodite, who promised him Helen, while Athena and Hera became his enemies.

At Sparta, Paris came expecting Helen as his bride, and carried her away from Menelaus and her native land toward Troy. He married Helen, though another account says Hera thwarted the marriage by giving him an image formed in her likeness, which Paris falsely believed he possessed. His act brought the Greek expedition against Troy, and Menelaus and Agamemnon became his enemies; Aphrodite remained his patron, declaring, “Venus Protects you.”

During the Trojan conflict, Paris faced Odysseus and Diomedes, called on his brother Hector, welcomed Rhesus as a friend, and killed Achilles with a missile. After ten years, Paris was slain, Troy was taken and destroyed, and Agamemnon laid waste to the city and its shrines in fulfilment of Zeus’s vengeance; Philoctetes, Peleus, and Andromache are likewise connected with him as enemies or through the harm attributed to him.