The goddess of discord (Eris), unhappy to have not been invited to a marriage, threw a golden apple on a table and claimed that it belonged to the fairest goddess. Athena, Hera and Aphrodite all claimed the apple, and Paris was taken to decide who should have it. Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful women that existed if he chose her, which he thus did, hence she told him he could claim Helen (the wife of Menelaus, Sparta's king) as his wife. The abduction of Helen by Paris started the trojan war.
