ABSTRACT
Son of Priam, king of Troy, and of his wife Hecabe. Homer prefers to call him Alexander (Alexandros).
There was confusion over Paris’ place in the order of Priam’s sons. Homer depicts him as second to Hector, but according to the Iliad Paris had been sent to Sparta as an envoy nineteen years before the death of Hector, and Hector appears considerably younger. It was also the privilege of primogeniture that allowed Paris to keep Helen against such powerful opposition. The contrary suggestion that he was one of the younger sons was presumably intended to support the impression of his outstanding good looks.
