Apple of Discord

J. M. W. Turner, The Goddess of Discord Choosing the Apple of Contention in the Garden of the Hesperides
The manzana de la discordia (the turret on the left belongs to the Casa Lleó Morera; the building with the stepped triangular peak is the Casa Amatller; and the curved façade to its right is the Casa Batlló).

An apple of discord is a reference to the Golden Apple of Discord (Greek: μῆλον τῆς Ἔριδος) which, according to Greek mythology, the goddess Eris (Gr. Ἔρις, "Strife") tossed in the midst of the feast of the gods at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis as a prize of beauty, thus sparking a vanity-fueled dispute among Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite that eventually led to the Trojan War[1] (for the complete story, see The Judgement of Paris). Thus, "apple of discord" is used to signify the core, kernel, or crux of an argument, or a small matter that could lead to a bigger dispute.

Derivative uses

Because of this, the Roman goddess corresponding to the Greek Eris was named "Discordia". Also, in German and in Dutch, the words are used a lot more often colloquially than in English, though in German the colloquial form is not Apfel der Zwietracht (lit. "Apple of Discord") but Zankapfel ("Quarrel-apple") and rarely Erisapfel - the Dutch is Twistappel ("Strife-apple").

In the Eixample district of Barcelona, there is a block nicknamed in Spanish: La manzana de la discordia (Catalan: L'illa de la discòrdia), the reason for this usage is because manzana means both "apple" and "city block" in Spanish. It was so named ("block of discord") because it features three different interpretations of Modernisme architecture: Antoni Gaudí's Casa Batlló, Lluís Domènech i Montaner's Casa Lleó Morera, and Josep Puig i Cadafalch's Casa Amatller.

"To the Fairest"

In some later sources, Eris inscribed on the apple "for the fair"[2] or "to the fairest" before tossing it. The most popular version of the inscription is ΤΗΙ ΚΑΛΛΙΣΤΗΙ (Ancient Greek: τῇ καλλίστῃ tē(i) kallistē(i), Modern Greek: τη καλλίστη ti kallisti; "for/to the most beautiful").[3] Καλλίστῃ is the dative singular of the feminine superlative of καλός, beautiful. In Latin sources, the word is formosissima.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Apollodorus Epitome E.3.2
  2. ↑ Lucian The Judgement of Paris in Dialogues of the Gods
  3. ↑ Citation needed
  4. ↑ Pseudo-Hyginus Fabulae 92
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