the judgment of Paris

idiom

Meaning

A difficult choice between rivals, where whatever you decide is bound to make enemies.

Origin

Three goddesses were quarrelling over a golden apple marked for the fairest, and not even Zeus would name a winner between his own queen, his daughter, and the goddess of love. So he handed the impossible task to a young shepherd on the slopes of Mount Ida, a prince of Troy raised among the flocks. His name was Paris.

They came to him on the lonely hillside, and each goddess offered a bribe. Hera promised him power over all the kingdoms of the earth. Athena promised him wisdom and victory in every battle he would ever fight. And Aphrodite, softly, promised him the most beautiful woman in the world for his wife.

Paris was young, and he chose with a young man's heart. He handed the golden apple to Aphrodite. In that single moment he made two goddesses his eternal enemies — and won the love of Helen, who was already the wife of a Greek king across the sea.

To claim his prize he carried Helen away to Troy, and her furious husband raised a thousand ships to take her back. The shepherd's one small choice on a quiet hillside became the spark of the greatest war the ancient world would ever tell of.

Ever after, the judgment of Paris names any choice between rivals so charged that pleasing one is certain to make bitter enemies of the rest.

Examples

SIMPLE

Picking a best friend felt like the judgment of Paris.

CONTEXTUAL

Choosing which of the three finalists to promote was the judgment of Paris, and the manager knew two of them would resent her either way.

COMPLEX

Awarding the single grant to one of the three brilliant proposals became the judgment of Paris for the panel, since any decision would leave two respected colleagues quietly nursing a grudge for years.

The Trojan Warconnected storiesSee all Greek myth origin →

The ten-year war sparked by a stolen queen and a golden apple.