In Greek mythology, Eris threw a golden apple among the goddesses at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis.
Eris was the goddess of strife and was not invited to the wedding. In revenge, she cast an apple inscribed for “the fairest” among the guests. Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite each claimed it, creating the dispute later known as the Judgment of Paris.
Zeus avoided choosing between the goddesses and appointed Paris, a prince of Troy, as judge. Each goddess offered Paris a different reward. Aphrodite promised him the love of the world’s most beautiful woman, Helen, and Paris awarded her the apple.
The episode became a major cause of the Trojan War in later mythology. The apple is therefore called the Apple of Discord, although the story is connected to the war through Paris’s judgment and Helen’s departure for Troy.