The Golden Apple of Discord
Jordaens paints the exact moment the wedding goes wrong. Eris, the uninvited goddess of discord, appears above the banquet and drops the golden apple inscribed "for the fairest" among the guests. The gods around the table startle, point and reach — the quarrel over who deserves it begins instantly.
Where other painters show the feast at peace, Jordaens chooses the flashpoint. His gods are fleshy and human, painted with the warm, earthy realism he was known for, which makes the divine squabble feel like a family argument at a dinner table — one that will end with Troy in ashes.
The Trojan War starts at a wedding. Peleus, a mortal king, marries Thetis, a sea goddess. All the gods are invited to the feast — except Eris, the goddess of discord. She shows up anyway and throws a golden apple into the crowd. On it is written: 'To the fairest.'
Three goddesses claim it at once: Hera, queen of the gods; Athena, goddess of wisdom and war; and Aphrodite, goddess of love. Zeus, king of the gods, refuses to judge between them — no answer could end well for him. So he hands the problem to a mortal.
One more thing about this wedding: the bride and groom will have a son. His name is Achilles, and he will become the greatest warrior who ever lived. The war that begins with this apple will also be the war that kills him.
Jacob Jordaens (1593–1678) was, after Rubens and van Dyck died, the leading painter of Antwerp. He was famous for robust, high-spirited scenes of feasts and myths, painted with a taste for real, unidealized faces and bodies.
