Judgment of Paris

Judgment of Paris



The Judgment of Paris depicts a Greek mythological story of a young Prince who chose a woman over wisdom and prosperity. The paintings showed something a beauty contest as the women took turns at   the spring of Ida, offering up themselves naked while presenting him with various vanities. In the end he chose Aphrodite's offer, the beautiful Helen of Sparta who at the time was married to a powerful Spartan, Menelaus. It is hard to imagine what was going through the young Prince's mind at the time. However, if lust was the issue, meaning if he was driven by the idea of just being with a beautiful woman, then he would have made a decision to choose one of the women in front of him. After all, they stood naked in his presence and he could have been easily seduced because they all had something substantial to offer him.

Having reviewed all the responses from my classmates, together with my own interpretation of the event, I am convinced that something else other than lust, sex, and wealth played a bigger role in his decisions. I believe that Paris was driven by power.

I believe that in Paris' mind, he thought that by acquiring the bride of a man like Menelaus, he would establish himself as someone worthier and improve his status in the region albeit that he never thought it through completely. I think he thought by choosing someone like Helen, he could get all of the things that he was been offered by the other goddesses regardless. It is easy to imagine how he would have thought he could gain more support to go forth and conquer because he had taken from one of the most powerful men in the world and gotten away with it. Men would follow him because he showed courage; that could lead to him winning more battles and possibly lead to him being King of Europe and Asia. It is quite possible those thoughts ran through his head while decided whose offer to choose.   But the reality is we don't know what went through his mind and what eventually...