# Judgment of Paris ## The Lottery in the Palace of Tyndareus. 3 Daughters - Menelaus gets Helen, - Agamemnon gets Clymenestra, - Odysseus gets Penelope (niece of Tyndareus). Not, I assure you, a price in gold or goods," said Tyndareus. "The price we require is an oath. Applicants for the hand of Helen will only be allowed to draw their lots if first they swear by all the gods of Olympus and on the lives of their children and grandchildren that, no matter who wins, they will abide uncomplainingly by the result. Furthermore, they pledge themselves to defend Helen and her lawfully recognized husband from all who might come between them." ([Location 1414](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B094WWPYRM&location=1414)) - Tags: [[blue]] ^33a0b1 This promise is the tragedy of the Judgment of Paris. The innocuous pledge to defend the marriage of Helen and Menelaus commits all the tribes of Greece to fight, whether they have any stake or want to or not. This is very much like the web of secret treaties that committed most of the world to war after the assassination of Arche Duke Ferndinand that launched WWI. It is also echoed in George Washington’s farewell address when he admonished leader to avoid entangling foreign alliances. —- > "It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world." > - [George Washington]((https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/quotes/article/it-is-our-true-policy-to-steer-clear-of-permanent-alliance-with-any-portion-of-the-foreign-world/)) --- > The Judgement of Paris is a story from Greek mythology, which was one of the events that led up to the Trojan War and in later versions of the story to the foundation of Rome.Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. In revenge, Eris brought a golden apple, inscribed, "To the fairest one," which she threw into the wedding. Three goddesses, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, agreed to have Paris of Troy choose the fairest one. Paris chose Aphrodite, because she bribed him by giving him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta, wife of Menelaus. Paris carried Helen off to Troy, and the Greeks invaded Troy for Helen’s return. This was the cause of the Trojan War. > > Figuratively, the phrase "The Judgement of Paris" can mean the ultimate origin of a war or other event. > > [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgement%20of%20Paris) #myth_class ![[Troy#^ea27f7]]