The wedding of Peleus and Thetis: while the gods feast at the table Eris throws her apple from a cloud.

　　Thetis was a sea nymph, whose beauty captured the heart of Zeus. However, it was told to Zeus that it was Thetis fate to have a son who would be far more powerful than his father. Because of this, no god could marry her because her son would grow so powerful that he could overthrow Zeus, as Zeus had overthrown Cronus. In order to prevent this from happening, it was decided that Thetis would marry an ordinary mortal. The chosen mortal was Peleus. He was the son of Aecus, who was the son of Zeus.

　　The occasion of the wedding between Peleus and Thetis was a time of great celebration. All of the gods attended except Eris, the goddess of discord, and the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Understandably enough, nobody liked Eris as she was always causing trouble. Because of this, she was rarely asked to attend important Olympian events.

　　Furious at having been left off of the invitation list again, Eris decided to make trouble. Into the banquet hall at Peleus and Thetis wedding, Eris threw a golden apple, marked For the Fairest. Of course, all of the goddesses wanted to claim it, the choice was narrowed down to the three most powerful and beautiful goddesses: Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena. Wisely, upon being asked to judge to whom the apple should go, Zeus refused to choose. No god wanted to be a part of this decision. So, it was decided that the only thing to do would be to put judgment on a mortal whose judgment the goddesses would agree to accept.