It really was unfair of them, to ask him such a question. How could he possibly answer such a question? One could not choose between the three, for fear of angering the other two. How could they do this to him?

Pallas, in her infinite wisdom, had made a mistake. It wasn't something she did very often, but even she could not foresee the consequences of this error.

An apple had fallen next to her place at the wedding of her niece Thetis and she had claimed it for her own. But Pallas had sat with her step-mother and half-sister at a triangular table, and each had claimed the apple, for it fell in the center of the table and read "To The Fairest."

It was obviously for Pallas and she wondered why the other two even bothered to lay claim to it. But that they did and a fight ensued, one that  Pallas' father decreed had best be settled by a mortal.

Pallas, as goddess of wisdom, was appointed to select the mortal. Her step-mother and half-sister were not pleased by this decision, but knew better than to cross Pallas' father. Pallas was overseen in this by her father and was instructed to select a mortal dear to each of the three goddesses competing for the apple. Her first thought was to select a common mortal, dear to none. But her father sternly reminded her that his terms were not to be brushed aside. Even though she was his favorite child, Pallas' father was very adamant about this mortal being the correct one.

Pallas watched the Earth for the equivalent of twenty mortal years, searching;  and found the perfect human for the task. He was a prince of the house of Troy. His house was a great foe of Pallas' step-mother, but the young prince's mother, who married into the House of Troy, was named Heracuba, a tribute to the queen goddess. Hera Juno was fond of the Queen of Troy and so Pallas assumed the son was a favorite as well.

Pallas' half-sister was fond of the Trojan prince because of his beauty; he was a superb instrument of love and had a great lust for women. Pallas' own connection was a vision granted to her by her half-brother, Phoebus, god of prophecy. Pallas' vision was of the young prince of Troy slaying the great warrior Achilles (son of the girl Thetis at whose marriage the competition began) in the midst of a battle, proving Paris to be as great a man as Achilles, who was the greatest of them all.

How was it that a great goddess, who had shown him neither favor nor anger could give him such a decision? He was a content man. He needed not the weight of choosing one goddess above others.

But the gifts they promised were not those granted to every mortal, either. No, he could use some of these immortal boons.

In his mind, he had already ruled out Hera Juno, for he was the second son of a king: he needed no power or riches. He supposed that greatness in war, the gift of Palla Athena, or Pallas as she said the prince could call her, was not so bad, but what prince would willingly bring war unto his country? Not a prince like himself, one who enjoyed the spoils of his father's reign and was content in his lavish ways. But what had Aphrodite, the great Venus, proposed to him? The most beautiful woman in the world. He had heard of such a woman. Aphrodite the Venus called her "a woman whose looks stop the hearts of all mortal men who gaze upon her." A worthy woman was something he could use. Oh yes.

His decision settled it. The apple belonged to Aphrodite the Venus, goddess of love and pleasure. And he, Paris Sheparus Priami, son of Heracuba the Fair and King Priam the Wise of Troy, would have for his wife the most beautiful woman in the world.

Pallas was so offended by the young prince's decision that she granted to his great enemy, Achilles, the wisdom and grace during battle she would have given to Paris. She hoped that this gift would enable Achilles to defeat the weakling Paris and change the Fate she had seen in her vision.

She gave the young warrior her name and favor, which he gladly accepted. He instructed his inferiors to change his name on all legal papers and send letters proclaiming his new allegiance to all friends and foes. He himself carved the helmet of Pallas onto his shield and added at the bottom 'This is the shield of Achilles Pallus Yemendi Fortuna, great warrior of Palla Athena's own hand.'

Pallas was pleased.

Hera Juno was not. Aphrodite the Venus had her new favorite, as did Hera Juno's much hated step-daughter, Pallas Athena, but she herself still had not chosen a side or a mortal to dote upon. It was irritating, for one as great she, Queen of the Gods, no less! was so lost in this. The wife of the king of Troy was named for her, that was true, but the House of Troy was one with which she would not ally herself with.

Hera Juno decided, eventually, not to choose a favorite, but to ruin Palla Athena's Achilles and that awful prince Trojan. It would not be difficult.

Was she ever beautiful. He had sailed to the faraway land of Sparta and been received by the King. King Menelaus. Menelaus was an old man, with nothing to offer a woman like that. He honestly had no idea why she had ever married him. But then, she had not been a woman of stature before their marriage. Perhaps his riches and power was what drew such a beauty out of the woodwork and into the courts of Sparta.

When Aphrodite the Venus promised him a woman of unsurpassed beauty, he had thought that she would conjure one up from her power. He had not thought that she would guide him to the island, this Sparta, and dance in front of him what he supposed was his prize, the wife of Menelaus…

 Aphrodite the Venus had thought to create a woman as well, but her father, The Almighty, refused to allow her. He told her that with the apple came a responsibility to complete her side of the bargain with Paris-the-Prince.  He was handsome, the young Prince was. She would have taken him for her own lover had she not despised his lack of strength, his weakness and cowardice. Her darling Aremars, which was her own pet name for him, for he called Ares by some and Mars by others,  was strong, resilient, and a wonderful lover.

And so her task became to find for the Prince the most beautiful of all mortal women. It would have been simple had the Prince been a lover of men, for Ganymede still lived on the Earth at that time. He was the most beautiful human. But a woman it had to be, and that Ganymede was not. 

The most beautiful of all women…