At this time the gods attended the wedding party of Peleus and Thetis,to which Eris was not invited.And being in pain because of anger and jealousy,this persistent goddess decided to spoil the feast,and though unwelcome,she appeared and threw among the guests one of the Apples of the Hesperides,in which the inscription "for the fairest" could be read.Helping herself through that device,she succeeded in starting a dispute between Hera,Athena,and Aphrodite.So Zeus,who knew the otherwise anonymous shepherd Paris,appointed Hermes to lead the three goddesses to Mount Ida in order to be judged by the same shepherd,and in that way put an end to the quarrel.When Hermes came to Mount Ida with the three goddesses,he called Paris and said to him:"Come here and decide which is the more excellent beauty of face,and to the fairer give this apple's lovely fruit." While Paris reflected,the goddesses,who for the occasion had bathed their immortal bodies,offered him bribes in order to win Eris' award of beauty:Athena offered him the command of Phrygia and the destruction of Hellas,or as some say,that he would be bravest of mortals and skilled in every craft.Likewise Hera offered him,besides wealth,the dominion over Asia and Europe.But Aphrodite offered him the hand of Helen,whose beauty was famous worldwide,and this bribe won the Apple.
