PARIS, surnamed Alexander, was the second son of Priam and Hecuba, the King and Queen of Troy. His birth was attended by the most singular circumstances. Immediately before he was born, his mother dreamed that she brought forth a torch, which set fire to the whole city. This dream was interpreted to mean that the coming infant would bring destruction upon Troy. Accordingly, no sooner had the child come into the world than his terrified parents, devoting him to death, exposed him on the neighbouring mountain of Ida. There he was suckled by a shepherd, until, at the end of five days, a shepherd found him, took him home, and adopted him. As the youthful Paris grew up, his princely endowments, shining forth from under his humble peasant-garb, began to exercise their legitimate influence. His graceful and refined comeliness won the heart of Cénone, the beautiful daughter of a river-god. He became the champion of the shepherds in their conflicts with the wild beasts of the forest, and was honoured with the surname of Alexander, "the defender of men." The fame of his exquisite taste and accomplishments even reached the ears of the immortals, and procured for him a notable honour. A golden apple, bearing the inscription "for the fairest," was brought to him from the gods; he was commanded to award it; and Juno, Minerva, and Venus presented themselves before him in the vale of Ida as the claimants. Besides dazzling his eyes with the uncovered brilliancy of their celestial charms, the goddesses tempted his judgment with bribes. Juno promised him a kingdom, Minerva military glory, and Venus the fairest woman in the world. The last offer won the partiality of the susceptible judge, and he awarded the prize to the goddess of love.
This decision led Paris into a course of action which brought ruin upon his native country. Having been discovered and recognised to be the son of Priam, he was placed in a position in which he resolved to avail himself of the promise which Venus had given to him. Hearing, therefore, of the surpassing beauty of Helen, the wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta, he fitted out a fleet, repaired to her husband's court under the guise of friendship, carried her off, and brought her home to his father's palace. The Greek chieftains soon arrived at the head of their forces to exact the restoration of the seduced queen; and thus the Trojan war, which ended in the destruction of Troy, was begun. During this famous struggle Paris did not show his usual valour. It is true that he twice advanced to meet his injured foe Menelaus; but on the first occasion he fled ignominiously before the Spartan hero, and on the second he would have been slain had not Venus interposed
to save him. It is also true that he slew Mnesthius, and wounded Diomedes and other Greek heroes; but he was fonder of passing the day in idle dalliance than of fighting before the walls of the city. The death of Paris is said to have been caused by one of the arrows of Hercules shot from the bow of Philoctetes. Apollo is reported to have assumed his form in order to slay Achilles.