Aphrodite to the Rescue!

Hello All!

 

A lot has happened since I made my last post!


I decided to step up and take part in the battle. The way I did this was challenging an Achaean, Menelaus, to a duel, and whoever resides victor keeps Helen as their wife. After I made this offer, I thought of Helen and how she would feel if either of us died in a war that she believes was started because she left the Greeks to come with me. I wasn't acting like a coward as a certain brother might have pegged me for, I was just looking out for what was best for my beautiful girl. After thinking that over though, I thought maybe since I started the war I shouldn't have backed out of a duel, so after talking it over with Helen, I agreed to duel Menelaus. Menelaus broke his sword over my helmet and grabbed me by my helmet and dragged me until my helmet "broke". All of a sudden I saw Menelaus standing over me with a spear, and the next thing I knew I woke up in bed with Helen and we engaged in coitus. I didn't just magically get to my bed on my own, I had a little help from Aphrodite, so if you see her around, thank her for me!

The Greeks are searching for me, Shh! don't tell them where I am.

I heard around the palace that the men and women "upstairs" are having their own little feuds, and they decided to intervene in the war below as well. Zeus, on one hand, is stating that the Greeks have won, and that the war should cease. Hera, his wife, wants nothing less than the destruction of Troy...I wonder what side she's on! Zeus  gives way to Hera, and makes Athena dress as a Trojan and shoot an arrow at the Greeks!  That's when the bloodshed began! Someone from the Greek side, Diomedes, definitely had his Wheaties for breakfast, he was killing off our soldiers by the second. My brother, Hector, with help from Ares started killing off the Greeks, but then Hera and Athena were granted permission to help on the Greek side. Just when we started to look good, we got destroyed. Where are the Gods when we need them? 


Analysis:

I heard Helen crying the other day, because she felt she was the cause of this horrific war. My father went on to tell her that it was the will of the God's to have this battle play out. I thought talking to my father would help solve her problems, but she did not seem assured. Even when she came into bed with me after Aphrodite willed me away, she was acting strange. I wonder if she thought her brothers were not fighting because they didn't approve of her leaving. I hope she knows that in reality, they fought to their death to get her to come back home. My father and myself love her dearly, I hope she soon realizes that she is not the reason for all the death and destruction of this war.


I'll keep you as updated as everything progresses.
Until next time...
-Paris

"Never before as now has passion enmeshed my senses, not when I took you the first time from Lakedaimon the lovely and caught you up and carried you away in seafaring vessels, and lay with you in the bed of love on the island Kranae, not even then, as now, did I love you and sweet desire seize me."- Paris Book 3 lines 442-446

Blog 2

 

Blog: Day 2

Hello Again!

I heard it through the grapevine that two women, Chryseis and Briseis,  were taken, by the Greeks, from our side. I wonder if it's to get back at me for "stealing" Helen... Anyways Helen and myself were walking around town when I heard Chryses, Chryesis's father, praying to Apollo for help in the return of his daughter. The answer to his prayer was death to many Greek soldiers due to Apollo's arrow of plague. The devastation worked, and Chryseis was rightfully returned to her father, who then asked Apollo to remove the plague.
Some time later when Helen and I were roaming around, we saw the Greeks run back to their ships, I thought "maybe they gave up trying", but apparently I was wrong. It was all a fake and now their army is stronger than ever because they are organized by city so they have support, emotional and physical, from their fellow comrades.

I was thinking of why Apollo got involved in our problem, and not get involved when I stole Helen. What could have happened if a plague came upon our group? I am a lover not a fighter, but for Helen I would fight for what is rightfully mine. Are the gods gunning for us to win, or are they just giving us false hope that some are on our side? This is what I came up with....The gods must be split, some on our side and some on the other. When I saw them run back to their ships, Aphrodite could have been behind that, being the goddess of love, but when they came back Athena must have convinced them to continue the fight until the end. I hope the God's don't intrude too much, that could lead to devastation to one side, hopefully not ours.

Until Next Time,
Paris

The Beginning

Blog: Day 1

Hello Everyone!
My name is Paris, or sometimes known as Alexander, but we will get to that later. The day I was born was supposed to be the last day of my life. Ironic, wouldn't you say? During my mother's  pregnancy, she had a dream that she gave birth to a flaming torch, which was interpreted as the impending downfall of Troy. To top that off, it was predicted that I would destroy our homeland. On the day of my birth, it was announced that I needed to be killed to spare the kingdom. My parents (Priam and Hecuba) were unable to kill me, so my father gave me to his chief herdsman to remove me from the kingdom and kill me. The herdsman took me to Mount Ida and left me for dead. He came back nine days later to find me still alive (I fed off a she-bear). He took me home in a backpack, which is what my name means, and he raised me as his son. He took a dogs tongue to my father as evidence of my "death". When I was still a child I drove off some cattle thieves and restored the stolen animals to the herd, and was given the name Alexander, which means protector of men. Around this time is when I met the lovely Oenone, who is skilled in the arts of prophesy and medicine.

Apparently, there was a marriage on Mount Olympus and everyone was invited, except Eris. During the party, for revenge, Eris threw the "Apple of Discord" engraved with the word "Kallisti"(for the fairest) into the party. This caused a fight over whom the apple was for. The goddesses thought to be the most beautiful were Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite and each one claimed the apple. Because they couldn't come to a conclusion, they asked Zeus to choose one of them. Knowing that choosing any of them would bring unneeded issues, he did not want to take part in the decision. He apparently appointed me to select the most beautiful, because I am the most beautiful mortal. The three goddesses approached me as I herded some cattle. They were all equally beautiful, so I could not possibly decide, so they started bribing me. Hera offered me ownership of all of Europe and Asia; Athena offered me skill in battle, wisdom and the abilities of the greatest warriors; and Aphrodite offered the love of the most beautiful woman on Earth, Helen of Sparta. I chose Aphrodite's offer, because I feel as if beautiful people are meant to be together. Helen was already married to King Menelaus of Sparta (a fact Aphrodite neglected to mention), so I had to raid Menelaus and Helen's home. Helen came with me willingly, although some think I stole her against her will. This triggered the war because Helen was famous for her beauty throughout Greece. So I guess I am the one responsible for the war....

Until next time...
-Paris

 More views on the judgment of Paris: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3556480?seq=3