"For the Fairest." Now, as all the
goddesses were extremely beautiful, each claimed the apple; but at length,
the rest having relinquished their pretensions, the number of candidates
was reduced to three, Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite, who agreed to appeal to
Paris for a settlement of this delicate question, he being noted for the
wisdom he had displayed in his judgment upon several occasions. Paris was
the son of Priam, king of Troy, who, ignorant of his noble birth, was at
this time feeding his flocks on Mount Ida, in Phrygia. Hermes, as messenger
of the gods, conducted the three rival beauties to the young shepherd, and
with breathless anxiety they awaited his decision. Each fair candidate
endeavoured {40} to secure his favour by the most tempting offers. Hera
promised him extensive dominions; Athene, martial fame and glory; and
Aphrodite, the loveliest woman in the world. But whether he really
considered Aphrodite the fairest of the three, or preferred a beautiful
wife to fame and power, we cannot tell; all we know is that to her he
awarded the golden apple, and she became ever after universally
acknowledged as the goddess of beauty. Hera, having fully expected that
Paris would give her the preference, was so indignant that she never
forgave him, and not only persecuted him, but all the family of Priam,
whose dreadful sufferings and misfortunes during the Trojan war were
attributed to her influence. In fact, she carried her animosity to such an
extent that it was often the cause of domestic disagreements between
herself and Zeus, who espoused the cause of the Trojans.

Among the many stories of these frequent quarrels there is one connected
with Heracles, the favourite son of Zeus, which is as follows:--Hera having
raised a storm at sea in order to drive him out of his course, Zeus became
so angry that he hung her in the clouds by a golden chain, and attached
heavy anvils to her feet. Her son Hephaestus tried to release his mother
from her humiliating position, for which Zeus threw him out of heaven, and
his leg was broken by the fall.

Hera, being deeply offended with Zeus, determined to separate herself from
him for ever, and she accordingly left him and took up her abode in Euboea.
Surprised and grieved at this unlooked-for desertion, Zeus resolved to
leave no means untried to win her back again. In this emergency he
consulted Cithaeron, king of Platea, who was famed for his great wisdom and
subtlety. Cithaeron adv