-feast
in heaven. Thither all the immortals were bidden, save one, Eris, the
goddess of Discord, ever an unwelcome guest. But she came unbidden. While
the wedding-guests sat at feast, she broke in upon their mirth, flung
among them a golden apple, and departed with looks that boded ill. Some
one picked up the strange missile and read its inscription, "For the
Fairest;" and at once discussion arose among the goddesses. They were all
eager to claim the prize, but only three persisted.

Venus, the very goddess of beauty, said that it was hers by right; but
Juno could not endure to own herself less fair than another, and even
Athene coveted the palm of beauty as well as of wisdom, and would not give
it up! Discord had indeed come to the wedding-feast. Not one of the Gods
dared to decide so dangerous a question,--not Zeus himself,--and the three
rivals were forced to choose a judge among mortals.

Now there lived on Mount Ida, near the city of Troy, a certain young
shepherd by the name of Paris. He was as comely as Ganymede himself,--that
Trojan youth whom Zeus, in the shape of an eagle, seized and bore away to
Olympus, to be a cup-bearer to the gods. Paris, too, was a Trojan of royal
birth, but like Oedipus, he had been left on the mountain in his infancy,
because the oracle had foretold that he would be the death of his kindred
and the ruin of his country. Destiny saved and nurtured him to fulfill
that prophecy. He grew up as a shepherd and tended his flocks on the
mountain, but his beauty held the favor of all the wood-folk there and won
the heart of the nymph Oenone.

To him, at last, the three goddesses intrusted the judgment and the golden
apple. Juno first stood before him in all her glory as queen of Gods and
men, and attended by her favorite peacocks as gorgeous to see as royal
fan-bearers.

[Illustration: TO HIM, AT LAST, THE THREE GODDESSES INTRUSTED THE JUDGMENT
AND THE GOLDEN APPLE]

"Use but the judgment of a prince, Paris," she said, "and I will give thee
wealth and kingly power."

Such majesty and such promises would have moved the heart of any man; but
the eager Paris had at least to hear the claims of the other rivals.
Athene rose before him, a vision welcome as daylight, with her sea-gray
eyes and golden hair beneath a golden helmet.

"Be wise in honoring me, Paris," she said, "and I will give thee wisdom
that shall last forever, great glory among men, and renown in war."

Last of all, Venus shone