Aphrodite did not fulfill her promise to Alexandros right away. His idyllic pastoral life with Œnone continued for several years before events started to sweep him towards his destiny. The catalyst for this was the death of one of Priam’s kinsmen. As was the custom of the time, the funeral was to be followed by a series of athletic competitions where the male mourners would strive against each other for prizes. For these particular games Priam decreed that the prize would be a fine young bull from his herds on Ida. This particular bull was Alexandros’ favorite out of the herd. It was big and powerful and taking care of it gave him an increased sense of masculine self- esteem. Unfortunately he was only a herdsman so he couldn’t very well say "no" to the king of Troy. However, Paris resolved to go to Troy and compete in the games with the hope of winning back his prize steer.

Reintroducing him to his powerful family was part of Aphrodite’s plan for her favorite mortal, and with the strength and vigor of an immortal behind him Paris emerged from the funeral games victorious and was reunited with his bovine phallic symbol. The idea of some peasant from the hills defeating the sons of Priam, including the mighty Hektor, did not sit well with the Trojans. One Trojan in particular, Priam’s son Deïphobos, was so angered by the shame visited on his family by this filthy peasant he moved to strike down Paris where he stood. Fortunately for Paris he saw Deïphobos bearing down on him with sword in hand so he had time to sprint to an altar of Zeus where he could claim sanctuary. Since Deïphobos was nearly lost in bloodlust it is doubtful if even this would have saved Paris, but another piece of luck fell his way. His sister, Kassandra, had oracular powers and happened to see the whole spectacle. As soon as he leapt onto the altar of Zeus, Kassandra recognized Paris as a child of Priam. Distraught at the idea of her brother committing fratricide and sacrilege at the same time Kassandra threw her body between Deïphobos and his intended victim, explaining as fast as she could the true nature of the situation. Since Kassandra was nearly incomprehensible when talking at this speed and Deïphobos was a little bit thick she had to run through the explanation three times before her brother finally understood what she was talking about.

Kassandra’s oracular powers had not come without a price. Apollo, the god of prophecy, was very taken with her looks. To win her favors he bestowed upon her the gift of foresight. Kassandra was a fairly level-headed woman and wasn’t swayed by flashy gifts and godlike good looks, but she also knew that rejecting a god outright would be extremely hazardous to her health. So she simply told Apollo that she knew the gods were fickle and often toyed with mortals and that she didn’t want to become some divine plaything. Not taking the hint Apollo, in an attempt to prove his serious intentions to her, declared that he would never take back from her his gift of prophecy. Given the god’s insistence, Kassandra was finally forced to be blunt with him and tell him that she was not going to sleep with him ever, under any circumstances. Feeling that he had somehow been tricked yet bound by his earlier promise not to revoke Kassandra’s prophetic powers, Apollo laid a curse on her that although she could see the future nothing she could do or say would be able to alter it. In short, he deprived her of that most valuable commodity, hope.

Her recognition of her brother, Alexandros, is one of the few occasions where one of Kassandra’s utterances was actually believed by her fellow Trojans. This didn’t really run counter to Apollo’s curse since Kassandra was acting as the agent of destiny rather than its potential thwarter. Once he was recognized Paris was made very welcome in Troy, and Deïphobos suddenly didn’t feel so bad about losing the games once he knew the victor was also a son of Priam. Everyone was pleased about this unexpected family reunion and no one seemed to give much thought to the disturbing circumstances which caused the separation in the first place. A celebratory feast and thanksgiving sacrifices to the gods were immediately organized. Despite the affection shown him by his newly discovered family Paris did not move to Troy but continued to live in the country with Œnone, though now they lived in a palace as befitted his new station in life.

The reunion with Paris started Priam thinking about another long lost member of his family: his sister Hesione. When Priam was a youth Herakles sacked the city of Troy because of his shoddy treatment at the hands of Priam’s father, King Laomedon. After killing Laomedon and all his sons with the exception of young Podarkes, Herakles gave over the spoils of Troy to his friend Telamon, who was actually the first to breach the walls of the city. These spoils included a lot of gold and silver and many other fine things, but what caught Telamon’s attention the most was Laomedon’s lovely and exotic daughter, Hesione. In order to impress her and win her affections Telamon offered to give her a gift from the spoils of her father’s city. Hesione said she wanted the freedom of her last surviving brother, Podarkes, and to seal the deal she bought him with her scarf. From this time onward Podarkes was known by the name "Priam" (meaning "he was bought").

Telamon sailed away from Troy with Hesione and when he reached his home at Salamis he went so far as to make her his legal wife instead of just a concubine or slave. It may seem unusual that a woman could warm so easily a man who had contributed to her father’s death but there were extenuating circumstances. After all, her father had chained her to a rock for a sea monster to eat and the first time she saw Telamon he was one of the men rescuing her from becoming a snack. As first impressions go, Telamon made a good one.

That was a generation ago, and now his reunion with Paris prompted the elderly Priam to think of his long lost sister who had been his benefactress in his greatest adversity. After growing despondent for months, Priam’s family finally discovered the cause of his grief. A special session of the Trojan council of elders was called to debate this matter and decide what, if anything, could be done about it.

After hearing about the ancient affront against his new family, Paris immediately offered to lead an army into Achæa to recover his aunt. To convince his fellow Trojans that he was capable of carrying out this plan he revealed to them for the first time his role in judging the goddesses and how he stood high in the favor of Aphrodite. Considering his recent victory in the funeral games, it seemed to the Trojans that Alexandros’ favor with the gods would empower him to victory through any adversity. Approval for the mission seemed assured until Priam’s son Helenos, who shared Kassandra’s prophetic gift, was smitten by a vision of the future. Helenos stated that if Paris brought a woman out of Achæa an Argive host would come to Troy, raze the city to the ground, and kill the king and all his sons. This revelation split the council in their opinions until Troilos, another son of Priam, accused Helenos of cowardice and the Trojans of timidity if they refused to right this past wrong. What finally tipped the balance was an account by the aged royal advisor Antenor who recounted the shoddy treatment he had received at the hands of the Achæans years before when he went to Salamis as a peaceful emissary to ransom back Hesione. This sort of uncivilized behavior was something the Trojans just couldn’t stand for, so an army was raised and sailed for Achæa under the command of Paris, with Deïphobos, Polydamas, and Æneias as his lieutenants. With Zeus’ and Aphrodite’s aid the Trojans knew they could restore the honor of Hesione, and teach these uncouth Achæans some manners to boot.

Before the departure of the fleet, Œnone warned Paris not to go to Achæa. As an immortal she had some insight into the future course of events, and she knew that if he left, her man would not return to her bed. Unfortunately Alexandros was already involved too deeply to back out, but he gave her a great many assurances that he would indeed return to her. Knowing that this wasn’t true but still caring about him, Œnone told Paris that if he was ever wounded he should return to her so she could use her gift of divine healing.

The Trojans had not sailed to Hellas since Antenor’s embassy nearly a generation ago, so no one in the task force really knew the exact location of Salamis. This being the case they overshot the mark and landed at the coast near Sparta. When word of their arrival was brought to the Spartan court King Menelaos was curious about these exotic warriors who had landed on his doorstep. Hoping for the best, he cautiously sent an invitation to the Trojan leaders to come stay with him at the royal palace and advise him of their intentions. Paris wanted to give the Achæans the benefit of the doubt, so he accepted the invitation hoping that he could use diplomacy to win an ally in his righteous quest to recover Hesione.

The exotic and obviously wealthy Trojan emissaries made quite a splash at the staid and rustic Spartan court. The Lakedaimonians, who were a bit on the uncouth side even by the standards of the time, had never seen such a well groomed group of handsome young men before. Every effort was made to entertain them in lavish style. One Spartan in particular was quite taken by these exotic outlanders and their handsome leader. This was Helen, Queen of Sparta and the wife of Menelaos. She had been married to Menelaos for several years now and was growing quite bored with his inane ramblings and tepid personality. Since Menelaos was hosting the Trojans this gave her ample opportunity to examine them closely, and she liked what she saw.

Their leader was particularly intriguing to her. He seemed to have two names, sometimes being called "Paris" and at others "Alexandros". In addition to this curious fact, he was quite easily the best looking man she had ever seen. Just watching him recline at supper made her heart pound and her cheeks flush. By comparison her husband seemed dull and mundane. The irony that his dull, second-rate nature were the things that initially drew her to him [See Chapter Four] was lost on Helen. After years of marriage the demands of being a wife and mother were starting to feel like unbearable burdens.

For his part, Paris was absolutely fascinated by Helen. All his life he’d been searching for someone as pretty as he was, and now here she was! Whenever she was around he completely lost his ability to concentrate on anything else. Of course this meant that his ability to convince Menelaos of the justness of his cause was severely impaired, but then again the rescue of an aunt he’d never met suddenly seemed so unimportant. By her sidelong glances and lingering stares he could tell the feeling was mutual. His mind raced back to the night of the contest and Aphrodite’s promise of the world’s most beautiful woman for his wife. Paris concluded that Helen must be the woman Aphrodite referred to, and since the heavens were on his side it was only right that he take her.

Menelaos was completely oblivious to all of this. His thickheadedness was just one more thing Helen was growing to despise about her husband. Paris and his crew were entertained by Menelaos for nine days, but on the tenth day Menelaos left to attend the funeral of Katreus on Krete. Before leaving he told Helen to make sure to attend to all of the needs of their Trojan guests, which Helen assured him she had every intention of doing. Menelaos was obviously forgetting one of the primary rules of marriage as laid out by the poet Erogenous. Namely, if your wife is the most beautiful woman in the world and the world’s handsomest man comes to stay with you as a houseguest, do not, under any circumstances, go away on a business trip.

That night Paris came to Helen’s bedchamber with the intention of carrying her off by force, as was his divine right by the will of Aphrodite. Throwing open the doors he beheld Helen packing away most of the valuable items to be found at the Spartan court. Looking up, she demurely asked him what had taken him so long. After a quick embrace, Paris took Helen by the hand and with a select few handmaidens (including the unfortunate Æthra) and most of the portable wealth of the palace of Sparta they made their way to the coast and sailed off into the night, leaving behind Helen’s boring domestic life, including her young daughter Hermione.

The Great Trojan Epic