GOLDEN APPLES HAVE BEEN POTENT SYMBOLS of beauty, desire, and
power over centuries in cultures around the globe. They appear
in fairy tales from Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, and Russia —
usually stolen from a king. In Norse mythology, golden apples
grant immortal life to the gods. Golden apples figure
prominently in three Greek myths, serving in one as a catalyst
for the Trojan War. Eris, the goddess of discord, was the only
deity uninvited to the wedding of Peleus and the beautiful sea-
nymph Thetis. Outraged, she threw a golden apple inscribed “for
the fairest” before the goddesses Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera.
The three beauties argued over who should get the apple, and
Zeus was loathe to decide, so he appointed a Trojan shepherd
boy, Paris, to answer the question instead. The goddesses tried
to bribe him. Hera, queen of Olympus, told Paris she would grant
him power to rule the world. Athena, goddess of war and wisdom,
said she would make him a brilliant strategist in battle.
Aphrodite, goddess of love, offer