User:Patentialist

ATTENTION For those of you who have stumbled onto this page, BE WARNED this is an assignment done by a 15 Year old student, so the information that you may read in this page may not be accurate! IM NOT A HISTORIAN! if you are Mrs Taylor then you have came to the right address!Now, this is my assignment on...

Paris of Troy
First of all, who is Paris? Paris was the prince of Troy, a kingdom with high walls, which seemed unbreachable by any war. The location of the ruins of Troy is near the coast of what is now Turkey. Paris was son to King Priam and Queen Hecuba and also a brother to Hector,He is well known because it was partially his fault Troy is now in ruins.

As Paris was born it was fortold he would be the death of Troy, King Priam beleived this and ordered Paris to be abandoned on Mount Ida. Paris was then found by a family of shepards, and was then raised as one. Now on Mount Olympias, Peleus and Thetis were getting married, but Eris the goddess of strife was not invited, ofcoarse she wasnt happy about the matter, so decided to come anyway. As she came she brought a golden apple and addressed it to " The Fairest". This then caused some controversy, as Hera, Athena and Aphrodite claimed this Golden Apple as their own, they then asked Zeus to make a decision, He too did not know who to pick so he descended down to Mount. Ida to Paris, to make him decide on who was the fairest.

Paris was a mortal, Obviously if the gods could not decipher this conundrum Paris couldnt either, so the the Goddess each offered something to Paris as a bribe for the golden apple, Hera offered the Power to rule all of Asia, Athena offered intelligence, to be the greatest strategist in the world and Aphrodite offered the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen. Paris being charming and handsome was used to the love of the woman so he chose Aphrodite's offer for Helen, therefore leaving Hera and Athena vengeful.

Years later when Paris was fully grown, King Priam held an athletics competition, the men of troy all comepted, even Paris, He later on won the competition and revealed that he was the son King Priam abandoned, as soon as King Priam saw how well Paris has grown, he accepted him back as his son and again the prince of Troy. Not long after Paris was again accepted back into Troys throne, King Priam had a task for Paris, it was to travel to Sparta as representives of Troy, as Troy and Sparta have just agreed to be allies. It was there that Paris spotted the elegance of Helen, and as they fell in love he kidnapped her to be the future Queen of Troy. Menelaus's (Helens wife and King of Sparta) found out why Helen was missing and sent a thousand war ships to the shores of Troy to get her back, at all costs.

Qualities of Paris
I found Paris selfish and stubborn because in choosing Aphrodites offer, and stealing Helen he betrayed his fathers had work in being allies with Sparta. He chose the Lust of Helen rather the Love of his own father and his kingdom.

Although in the story he also showed Courage, when Achilles the murderer of Hector brought back Hector's corpse, Paris shot Achilles in his heel therefore killing him. Some may say this is Paris being a coward, shooting at Achilles when he was doing a good deed by bringing back the body, but to gamble his own life to Achilles, the worlds greatest swordsman at that time, to revenge the loss of his brother seems courages.

Representations of Paris
In all the stories of Troy, Paris is represented by a handsome and charming man, although rushing into things with out thinking it through and Always taking the easy way out.

Conclusion
I have chosen Paris because his story intrigued me, the decision he made and the consequences that followed are interesting, and it really puts things in perspective, that Troy was as strong as their weakest link, and that link happened to be Paris's lust for Helen, and just because you love some one its not always right. I hope you enjoyed my assignment of Paris.

Word Meanings
Achilles-Son to Peleus King of Myrmidons and Thetis an immortal sea nymphs. Achilles said to be one of the best warriors at that time, because of this people mistaken him as an immortal.

Aphrodite- Godess of love and beauty.

Athena- Godess of war.

Hera- Godess of marriage.

Myrmidons- Were an army serving King Perleus and Achilles.

Zeus- King of the gods and King of thunder and sky.

~ ~ ~ By Patrick Kamsrikerd