godlike Alexandros
A Trojan prince. Asked to judge which goddess was the fairest, he chose Aphrodite, who promised him the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen. Later his arrow killed Achilles.
From Troy. Today: Hisarlik, near Çanakkale, Turkey.
Strength 5/10 · Wisdom 6/10 · Courage 4/10 · Divinity 2/10 · Fame 9/10
The story
Also called Alexandros. Before he was born, his mother Hecuba dreamed she gave birth to a burning torch, so the baby was left on Mount Ida to die. Shepherds raised him, and he was tending flocks when three goddesses asked him to choose the fairest.
How it ends
He killed Achilles, then was himself shot by Philoctetes with the bow of Heracles, shortly before Troy fell.
Still with us today
The city of Paris has nothing to do with him. It is named after a Celtic tribe, the Parisii.
Family
- Parents: Priam, Hecuba
- Partners: Helen
- Siblings: Hector, Cassandra, Creusa, Helenus, Deiphobus, Troilus, Cebriones
Appears in
Read about them in the Library
- Iliad 3: The duel for Helen
- Iliad 6: Hector and Andromache
- Iliad 7: Hector and Ajax
- Iliad 8: The tide turns
- Iliad 11: The Greek leaders wounded
- Library of Apollodorus 13: Sparta, Troy and the children of Atlas
- Library of Apollodorus 17: Epitome: the Trojan War
- Metamorphoses 12: The Trojan War begins
Ancient sources
- Homer, Iliad
- The Epic Cycle (lost early epics)
Paris is a playable card in MythoTroy, the Trojan War card game.
In the sky and in space
- AsteroidsThe Trojan asteroids
Thousands of asteroids share Jupiter's path round the Sun, in two swarms, one ahead and one behind. They are named after heroes of the Trojan War: Greeks in the front camp, Trojans in the back. There are two "spies": 624 Hektor sits among the Greeks and 617 Patroclus among the Trojans. NASA's Lucy spacecraft, launched in 2021, is on its way to visit them.