THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street Portland,Maine 04103
(207) 780-4249 usm.maine.edu/planet
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Altitude: 10 feet below sea level
Founded January 1970
2021-2022: XVIII
"Time, as it grows old, teaches all things."
-Aeschylus
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Monday, September 27, 2021
Choosing Paris
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Dedicated to subscriber MVJ.
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This mythological excursion will be our last for a bit.
Questions are dendritic in nature in that many other questions tend to branch off from the answer to a single question. Those answers elicit other questions that, in turn, give rise to other questions prompting other answers and, well, one can see the end result, if there ever is an end. Such has proven to be the case with the "Cloud Named Helen" DA last week. We know this is the "Daily Astronomer." However, in our defense, we posted a mythology article because the Universe had proven to be completely boring that day and we needed to delve into the fantastic realms for content.
That one mythological article pertained to Helen of Troy's abduction by Paris, who was promised the world's most beautiful woman by Aphrodite, to whom he gave the golden apple that she, Athena and Hera all desired. Aphrodite's bribe of the most beguilingly desirable woman proved more enticing to Paris that Athena's offer of profound wisdom or Hera's promise to make him politically influential. We mentioned that Hera, incensed at having been denied the apple, fashioned a replica of Helen out of a cloud. It was that copy that Paris kidnapped, not the real Helen who went to Egypt and never set foot in Troy. So, apart from making Helen of Troy's name the biggest misnomer in mythological history, it also caused all the Greek and Trojan warriors to fight and die in vain.
We wrote a follow up article after a few subscribers asked, "What did Helen do while in Egypt?"
Well, soon after, a self-described "mythology nerd" on the DA list wrote and asked, "Why did Zeus choose Paris to decide which goddess would receive the apple?" As you will know if you read the previous article, Aphrodite, Athena and Hera initially asked Zeus to adjudicate the matter. Knowing that he would incur the wrath of the two goddesses he didn't select, Zeus asked Paris to choose which goddess would be the most worthy. The Trojan War was the result.
So, why would Zeus have chosen Paris the shepherd to judge a beauty contest among the most powerful goddesses? We all know that the gods were somewhat contemptuous of mortals and rarely associated with them, except for the times when those inveterate skirt-chasers Zeus and Apollo descended onto the world for frolics.
Well, first of all, Paris wasn't merely a shepherd. He was the son of King Priam and Queen Hecabe. On the night prior to Paris' birth, his mother dreamt about Troy being devoured by a flaming brand. Aesacus, one of Priam's sons from a previous marriage and a famous seer, warned her that the son she was about to deliver would eventually bring about Troy's destruction. Although Priam and Hecabe resolved at once to expose the child after its birth, neither of them could bring themselves to do so. They gave the infant Paris to a servant who, also being soft-hearted, gave him to a shepherd couple to secretly raise as their own. The gods, being privy to all mortal matters, knew of his lineage.
Perhaps more important than his parentage, though, was the matter involving a great deal of bulls. During one summer, a contest was announced in which all the Trojan bulls would be judged by Paris to determine which was the finest. Eventually, all the competitors were eliminated except for two: Paris' bull and another bull which clearly excelled the former bull in both strength and beauty. Despite Paris' obvious partiality for his own bull, he awarded the first place prize to the other animal. This decision was fortunate, for that bull was actually Ares, the god of war, in disguise. The Olympians were so gratified by Paris' sense of fairness that Zeus naturally chose him to settle the golden apple matter. Moreover, and perhaps even more importantly, this bull story also explains why Athena, Hera and Aphrodite would have allowed themselves to be judged by a mere mortal. They believed him to have been more fair minded than anyone else. Of course, in the end, he was not above accepting bribes, much to Hera's chagrin and ultimately to the dismay of every Trojan.
Tomorrow, when will humans conquer the Milky Way Galaxy?