Idiom
the apple of discord
Meaning
A small thing that causes a big argument or rivalry between people.
Examples
“The old family clock became the apple of discord after their grandmother died.”
“What should have been a simple budget meeting turned into the apple of discord that split the committee for months.”
“The disputed strip of borderland, barely a few miles wide, had long been the apple of discord between the two nations, dragging every peace talk back into the same old quarrel.”
Examples
simple
“The old family clock became the apple of discord after their grandmother died.”
contextual
“What should have been a simple budget meeting turned into the apple of discord that split the committee for months.”
complex
“The disputed strip of borderland, barely a few miles wide, had long been the apple of discord between the two nations, dragging every peace talk back into the same old quarrel.”
Origin
Every god and goddess had been invited to the wedding on Mount Olympus — every one, that is, but Eris, the spirit of strife, left off the guest list on purpose, since who wants quarrelling at a wedding? But a slighted goddess does not simply stay home and sulk.
She came to the feast unseen, and she brought a single golden apple. Onto it she had scratched two small words — For the fairest — and she rolled it quietly into the middle of the hall, then slipped away to watch what it would do.
Three goddesses reached for it at once. Hera, queen of the gods; Athena, wise in war; and Aphrodite, goddess of love — each certain the prize was meant for her, none willing to yield an inch. What began as a glance became a boast, and the boast swelled into an argument so bitter that even Zeus would not touch it.
The choice was handed instead to a mortal shepherd named Paris, and his judgment set the whole world alight, for the apple's quarrel ran straight on to the ten-year war that burned the towers of Troy. One small golden fruit, and a wedding's joy curdled into a decade of ruin.
We call a thing an apple of discord when it is exactly that: a small, tempting object that drops into the middle of a group and sets everyone in it at one another's throats.
Stories
The Trojan War · See all Greek myth origin
The ten-year war sparked by a stolen queen and a golden apple.
the judgment of Paris — A difficult choice between rivals, where whatever you decide is bound to make enemies.
the face that launched a thousand ships — A person whose beauty is so great it inspires enormous effort, conflict, or devotion.
Trojan horse — Something that looks like a harmless gift but secretly carries a hidden danger inside.
Achilles' heel — A single hidden weakness in someone or something otherwise strong.
- Level
- C1 · Advanced
- Updated