Eris
The goddess of strife and discord who threw the golden apple that started the chain of events leading to the Trojan War.
The Meaning of Eris
Eris was the goddess of strife, discord, and rivalry. Daughter of Nyx, she delighted in conflict and was unwelcome among the gods. When she was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis — precisely because her presence would cause trouble — she took revenge.
Eris threw a golden apple among the wedding guests, inscribed with the words "For the Fairest." Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite each claimed it, and their quarrel could not be resolved even by Zeus. He sent the three goddesses to Paris, a Trojan prince, to judge.
Each goddess offered Paris a bribe: Hera offered power, Athena offered wisdom and victory in battle, and Aphrodite offered the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris chose Aphrodite, who gave him Helen of Sparta. His abduction of Helen triggered the Trojan War — all from a single golden apple thrown by the goddess of discord.
Parents
Nyx
Symbols
Fun Fact
The dwarf planet Eris, discovered in 2005, was named after the goddess of discord because its discovery caused a controversy that led to Pluto's reclassification.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Judgement of Paris
💭 conceptNarrative
The Trojan prince's fateful choice among three goddesses that set in motion the Trojan War
Apple of Discord
💭 conceptchaos
Golden apple thrown by Eris inscribed "for the fairest" that triggered the divine beauty contest leading to the Trojan War.
Wedding of Peleus and Thetis
💭 conceptNarrative
The divine wedding feast where gods and mortals celebrated together, unknowingly setting the Trojan War in motion
Judgement of Paris
💭 conceptbeauty, causation
The beauty contest between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite judged by Paris of Troy, whose choice of Aphrodite triggered the Trojan War.
Judgment of Paris
💭 conceptfate
The beauty contest between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite judged by Paris of Troy that caused the Trojan War.
Goddess of Love
💭 conceptLove, beauty, desire, fertility
Aphrodite governs romantic love and physical beauty, wielding an influence that even Zeus cannot resist.
Goddess of Marriage
💭 conceptMarriage, family, women, childbirth, fidelity
Hera protects the institution of marriage, the rights of married women, and the sanctity of oaths between spouses.
Creation of Pandora
💭 conceptNarrative
The crafting of the first woman by the gods as a punishment for humanity after Prometheus's theft of fire
Peitho
💭 conceptRhetoric and Desire
The Greek goddess and concept of persuasion, worshipped as a divine force in both politics and love.
Metamorphoses
💭 conceptTransformation, punishment, mercy
Stories of mortals and gods reshaped into new forms — by love, divine punishment, or compassion — central to how Greeks explained the natural world.
The Trojan War
💭 conceptWar, fate, heroism
A ten-year siege of Troy by a coalition of Greek kings, sparked by the abduction of Helen and shaped by the rivalries of the gods.
Niobe's Punishment
💭 conceptNarrative
The destruction of a queen's fourteen children by Apollo and Artemis for her boast of superiority to the goddess Leto