If the apple of discord was thrown down at the wedding feast of Peleus and Thetis, how did Achilles, their son, fight in the Trojan war? The timeline does not make sense to me unless you just chalk that up to the timing of the Eternal, Deathless Gods but mortals are involved. Like Paris is presumably asked right after the wedding to judge who gets the apple then he picks Aphrodite who has promised him the most beautiful woman. Does she like wait to find out who that is and that causes the delay? The story seems to go that she promises Helen, they kidnap Helen and then the war begins so like thatās a year tops in my mind but how would that give Achilles time to become the teenager he is in the war? Please help. If there is a definitive answer excellent but I also just want theories.
i really love love love this question, cus iāve thought about it a lot, especially because i consider Paris and Achilles to be around the same age, which, as you said, would make no sense.
sadly, i donāt have a definitive answer, but i do have a theory. itās quite long though so buckle up.
As you probably know, Aphrodite, Hera and Athena asked Zeus to solve the issue before resorting to Paris. Zeus couldnāt answer and by the timeline of the Gods, many mortal years had passed so Paris would have been born, sent away from the palace and had enough time to grow up at this point. Ares suggests him, the goddesses ask and Paris gets bribed. But he doesnāt take Helen straight away, because heās still a goatherd at this point.
Before I finish with that, letās get back to Achilles. One would probably assume that within the first year of Thetisā and Peleusā marriage, he was already born, but thatās actually not true. The couple had six sons before Achilles, but they all passed away somehow (which, i like to think, is the reason Thetis is so protective). That means, even if they all died on Day 1 of their life and Thetis conceived the very same day: 9 months x 6 = 54 months aka. 4,5 years. Thatās at least 4 and a half years before Achilles was born, but I think I can safely assume it took a little longer. Letās say 6 years (which btw is still unrealistic and would probably be horrible for Thetisā health but I digress).
So now, Achilles is born, stuff happens: Achilles meets Phoenix and Patroclus, he gets sent to Chiron, and eventually Scyros etc. Letās say heās 17 when that happens. Still a teen, but old enough to get Deidamia pregnant. Realistically, Thetis would only send him away when the threat of the war is imminent, so Helenās kidnapping happens when Achilles is 17. I tend to say Helen was around 24, Paris was maybe 21. I believe however that the Judgement of Paris happened a couple years before.
Because, consider, Paris picks Aphrodite as a goatherd, but he kidnaps Helen as a prince. So somewhere in between, Cassandra must've found him and brought him back. He then had to get used to royal life, but, more importantly, all the ships had to be ready to go to Sparta. It could've happened in a couple of days, but a couple of years isn't unrealistic either, and it fits the timeline better.
It's a bit all over the place, so here's summary:
0 years: Peleus' and Thetis' wedding, Golden Apple incident (Paris/Achilles not born)
2 years: Paris is born and abandoned.
6 years: Achilles is born.
19 years: The Judgement of Paris happens, Paris is still a goatherd.
23 years: Paris kidnaps Helen, start of the war, Achilles is aged 17
The only time ādivine timingā really plays a role is between the wedding the Judgement of Paris. In divine timing 19 years is nothing, just enough time for Zeus and Ares to get involved. Paris wouldāve probably already held one or two bullfights at the age of 17 when he is chosen to judge between the goddesses and from then on everything runs pretty smoothly, bearing in mind the 4 years between Aphrodite promising Helen to him and Paris actually kidnapping Helen.
sorry it took so long to post this, had to get my thoughts in check then type it up :D
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