A Dab of History
I don't know whether or not everyone knows the back story of Troy and the real myth (oxymoron!) behind the movie and the Iliad, Just to make life a little easier, here's my own history lesson of what happened LONG before the movie started or the Iliad began:
The Trojan War was destined to occur LONG before Paris ever went to Sparta. In fact, the real trigger to the war had almost nothing to do with Paris, prince of Troy, or the most beautiful of all women, Helen/Helena. (There are different variations to the name but I learned the story as Helen so I'm calling her by that.)
The myth actually begins at Achilles' parents' wedding. Achilles' parents were Peleus, a mortal king, and Thetis, a sea nymph. Because of Thetis' high-ranking, in a magical sense, and her connections to Poseidon, her being a sea nymph and all, all the gods and goddesses, major and minor, were invited. Unfortunately, there was either an oversight or some true ill-intent. Either way, Eris, Goddess of Discord, was not invited to the wedding.
In an attempt for revenge, Eris attended the reception of the wedding but hid in the shadows. In the thick of the festivities, Eris threw a golden apple into the crowds. On the apple were words, engraved into the solid gold: To The Most Beautiful.
All the goddesses went into a frenzy each one claiming that the apple was meant for her. In the end, the clashes had narrowed the contenders for the apple's ownership down to three goddesses: Athene, Hera and Aphrodite. They wanted a winner to be called immediately because the fighting had gone on for quite some time (much to Eris' delight). They went to Zeus to sort out the mess but he refused to choose, wisely knowing that the two other goddesses who lost the contest would be a very dangerous enemy. Instead, he pointed them to Prince Paris of Troy, "a great judge of beauty," he said.
Paris, then, was still known as Alexander. He was an orphan, abandoned by his real parents on the slopes of Mount Ida, raised by a shepherd family. His real parents, Hecuba and Priam, had left at the mountains when an oracle had predicted that Paris would bring upon Troy its destruction.
Paris was tending his sheep at a clearing when the three goddesses found him.
Athene, Hera and Aphrodite gave the golden apple to Paris telling him that he must award it to one of the three women around him. However, he was not to see them at all. The goddesses realized that no one could comparably judge their beauty by sight and so decided that Paris would choose the winner by the value of what each could offer him, each one offering something in the vein of what they represented.
Hera, Queen of the gods, offered Paris the control of all of Greece and Asia minor.
Athene, goddess of war, gave Paris her hand in helping the Trojans win a great war that was coming in the near future.
Aphrodite, goddess of love and lust, promised Paris the love and affection of the most beautiful woman in Greece.
Paris proved himself a romantic that day, giving the golden apple to Aphrodite, foolishly making enemies with two of the most powerful goddesses of the time. He had three destinies opened to him that day but the oracles were correct as they always were and he chose the fate that was foreseen by others.
... And so my story begins... well not really. I flash back a little more. If you've read the story, or whatever has already been written anyways, please don't forget to review. If you haven't then please click away and I hope you enjoy my yarn.