Editing Paris (mythology) (section)

===Trojan War===

Homer's ''[[Iliad]]'' casts Paris as unskilled and cowardly. Although Paris readily admits his shortcomings in battle, his brother [[Hector]] scolds and belittles him after he runs away from a duel with Menelaus that was to determine the end of the war.<ref>e.g., ''Iliad'', book 3, lines 38–57.</ref> His preference for bow and arrow emphasizes this, since he does not follow the code of honor shared by the other heroes.

Early in the epic, Paris and Menelaus duel in an attempt to end the war without further bloodshed.  Menelaus easily defeats Paris, though [[Aphrodite]] spirits him away before Menelaus can finish the duel. Paris is returned to his bedchambers, where Aphrodite forces Helen to be with him.<ref>''Iliad'', book 3, lines 340–419.</ref>

Paris's second attempt at combat is equally fated: rather than engage the Greek hero [[Diomedes]] in hand-to-hand combat, Paris wounds Diomedes with an arrow through the foot.

Later, after slaying Hector and other heroes, [[Achilles]] dies by an arrow of Paris with Apollo's help. According to Hyginus (Fabulae, 107) Apollo disguised himself as Paris.

Later in the war, after [[Philoctetes]] mortally wounds Paris, Helen makes her way to [[Mount Ida]] where she begs Paris's first wife, the nymph [[Oenone]], to heal him. Still bitter that Paris had spurned her for his birthright in the city and then forgotten her for Helen, Oenone refuses. Helen returns alone to Troy, where Paris dies later the same day. In another version, Paris himself, in great pain, visits [[Oenone]] to plead for healing but is refused and dies on the mountainside. When Oenone hears of his funeral, she runs to his funeral pyre and throws herself in its fire.<ref>{{cite book |translator1=Way, A.S. |author=Quintus Smyrnaeus |title=The Fall of Troy |at=Book 10, 259–489 |series=Loeb Classics |volume=19 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge MA |year=1913 |url=http://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NympheOinone.html}}</ref>

After Paris's death, his brother [[Deiphobus]] married Helen and was then killed by [[Menelaus]] in the sack of Troy.

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Helen and Paris, Pompeii.jpg|''Seduction of Helen by Paris'', antique fresco in [[Pompeii]], 1st century
File:The face that launched 1,000 ships.jpg|''Abduction of Helen'', ceiling fresco, Venetian, mid-18th century
File:Les Amours de Pâris et d'Hélène (painting by Jacques-Louis David).jpg|''The Love of Helen and Paris'' by [[Jacques-Louis David]] (oil on canvas, 1788, Louvre, Paris)
File:Fresco depicting the meeting of Helen and Alexandros (Paris), Black Room, Pompeii.jpg|Antique fresco from Pompeii, showing Trojan prince Paris with Helen of Troy (1st century CE)
</gallery>