According to legend, the chain of events that led to the Trojan War started at a royal wedding. Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, was marrying a sea nymph named Thetis. Many gods attended the wedding, but Eris, daughter of Zeus, king of the gods, wasn't invited because she was the goddess of discord and bound to cause trouble.

Angry at being excluded, Eris decided to disrupt the wedding banquet. She threw a golden apple marked "for the fairest" among the guests. The goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite were there, and each thought that she was the fairest of them all. They bickered for a while about who deserved the apple, then asked Zeus to decide the matter.

But Zeus was smarter than that! He didn't want to get involved, so he sent them to a prince named Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). Despite his royal heritage, Paris had been raised as a simple shepherd after his mother learned in a vision that he would cause the destruction of Troy.

Why did Zeus choose Paris to judge the contest? Some say it was because Paris was the most honest person on earth. Or maybe he was too dumb to know better than to get involved in a dispute between bickering goddess. Perhaps Zeus was being a bit sarcastic toward those bickering goddesses when he chose Paris, who was known as a good judge of cattle. Or it could have simply been fate, because the judgment of Paris did indeed lead to the downfall of Troy.

The goddesses tried to rig the contest by bribing Paris. Athena promised to help him lead Troy to victory in a war against the Greeks. Hera promised to make him the king of all Europe and Asia. And Aphrodite, the goddess of love, promised to give Paris the most beautiful woman in the world. The beautiful woman sounded better to Paris than power and glory, so he awarded the Apple of Discord to Aphrodite.

She sent him to Sparta to collect his prize. There was just one problem. The most beautiful woman in the world was already married.

She was Helen, a half-mortal daughter of Zeus and the step-daughter of King Tyndareus of Sparta. Many powerful men had wanted to marry her, but Helen married Menelaus, the brother of Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae. After Tyndareus's death Helen's husband became the king of Sparta.

When Paris showed up in Sparta, Menelaus and Helen welcomed him as a guest. Paris fell in love with Helen and she eloped with him. Menelaus was furious. Determined to win his wife back, he summoned all his troops and put them under the command of his brother Agamemnon.

For ten years, the Greeks beseiged Troy. According to legend, the gods took great interest in the war. Hera and Athena still resented Paris for not giving them the Apple of Discord, so they helped the Greek side. Aphrodite assisted the Trojans. Zeus also favored the Trojans, but tried to remain impartial. Eris and her brother Ares helped both sides because they loved war!

Many Heros died in the conflict. The Greek Patroclus was killed by Hector, the brother of Paris. This angered Achilles, who killed Hector. Avenging his brother, Paris tried to shoot Achilles in the back, but the arrow struck Achilles's vulnerable heel and he died. Soon Paris, too, was wounded in battle by the greek hero Ajaz and he also died. Soon after, Ajax went mad and killed himself!

After the deaths of Achilles and Ajax, the Greeks wanted to give up and go home. But the king of Ithaca, Odysseus, came up with a plan to get the Greek army into Troy. He suggested building a wooden idol big enough to hide his men inside and leave it outside the gates Troy. Then, the remainder of the Greek army would seemingly sail away, leaving victory to the Trojans.

Now everyone knows the story of the Trojan Horse and how it led to the fall of Troy but in our story, THERE ARE NO HORSES!. I leave it up to you the shape of the Greek's idol. You are the Trojan Guard who opens the gate the morning the Greeks depart. What do you see?

Bill	Bill	Bill
Birgit	Boop	Jeri

Marcia	Maureen	Mike
Sharon	Sheryl