Oenone

Greek mythology

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Oenone, in Greek mythology, a fountain nymph of Mount Ida, the daughter of the River Cebren, and the beloved of Paris, a son of King Priam of Troy. Oenone and Paris had a son, Corythus, but Paris deserted her for Helen. Bitterly jealous, Oenone refused to aid the wounded Paris during the Trojan War, even though she was the only one who could cure him. She at last relented but arrived at Troy too late to save him. Overcome with grief, she committed suicide. The 19th-century English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, wrote a poem about her, “The Death of Oenone.”

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Paris

Greek mythology

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Alternative Title: Alexandros

Paris, also called Alexandros (Greek: “Defender”), in Greek legend, son of King Priam of Troy and his wife, Hecuba. A dream regarding his birth was interpreted as an evil portent, and he was consequently expelled from his family as an infant. Left for dead, he was either nursed by a bear or found by shepherds. He was raised as a shepherd, unknown to his parents. As a young man he entered a boxing contest at a Trojan festival, in which he defeated Priam’s other sons. After his identity was revealed, he was received home again by Priam.

Cranach, Lucas, the Elder: The Judgment of Paris — Cranach, Lucas, the Elder: *The Judgment of ParisThe Judgment of Paris*, oil on beech by Lucas Cranach the Elder, c. 1528; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Rogers Fund, 1928 (accession no. 28.221); www.metmuseum.org

The “judgment of Paris” was and continues to be a popular theme in art. According to legend, Paris, while he was still a shepherd, was chosen by Zeus to determine which of three goddesses was the most beautiful. Rejecting bribes of kingly power from Hera and military might from Athena, he chose Aphrodite and accepted her bribe to help him win the most beautiful woman alive. His seduction of Helen (the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta) and refusal to return her was the cause of the Trojan War. During the war Paris seems to have had a secondary role: a good warrior but inferior to his brother Hector and to the Greek leaders whom he faced. Menelaus would have defeated Paris in single combat, but Aphrodite rescued him, and the war continued.

The Judgment of Paris, tempera painting on canvas by Niklaus Manuel; in the Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switz. — *The Judgment of Paris*, tempera painting on canvas by Niklaus Manuel; in the Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switz.Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Kunstmuseum Basel, Switz.

Near the end of the war, Paris shot the arrow that, by Apollo’s help, caused the death of the hero Achilles. Paris himself, soon after, received a fatal wound from an arrow shot by the rival archer Philoctetes.

The “judgment of Paris,” Hermes leading Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite to Paris, detail of a red-figure kylix by Hieron, 6th century bc; in the Collection of Classical Antiquities of the National Museums in Berlin. — The “judgment of Paris,” Hermes leading Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite to Paris, detail of a red-figure *kylix* by Hieron, 6th century bc; in the Collection of Classical Antiquities of the National Museums in Berlin.Antikenabteilung, Staatliche Mussen zu Berlin—Preussischer Kulturbesitz

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Alicja Zelazko, Assistant Editor.