According to the myth, the war started when Paris, a prince of Troy, abducted Helen, the wife of the Greek king Menelaus (Menelaus was not the king of all of Greece, as the country did not exist at the time; rather, he was king of one the Greek city-states). Paris had been promised Helen by the goddess [[Aphrodite]], in return for choosing her as the fairest in a competition between three goddesses. | According to the myth, the war started when Paris, a prince of Troy, abducted Helen, the wife of the Greek king Menelaus (Menelaus was not the king of all of Greece, as the country did not exist at the time; rather, he was king of one the Greek city-states). Paris had been promised Helen by the goddess [[Aphrodite]], in return for choosing her as the fairest in a competition between three goddesses. |