Oenone

On Mount Ida, Paris met Oenone, the nymph and daughter of the river-god Cebren. He was then known as Alexander, the helper of men. He had been abandoned on the mountain as a baby after Hecuba dreamed that she had borne a firebrand. A bear suckled him, and herdsmen raised him among the mountain flocks. Paris grew strong and handsome without knowing that he was the son of Priam, king of Troy. He married Oenone, and they lived together in a humble forest home. Oenone was believed to have the power to heal wounded men, however serious their injuries.

One day, servants of Priam drove a beautiful bull away from Paris’s herd. Paris followed it to Troy. Hecuba saw the ring around his neck, the same ring she had tied around her baby before he was taken away. She recognised him as her son, and Priam gave him a house among the homes of the Trojan princes. Paris then learned of his royal birth. When Helen’s fame reached Troy, he forgot Oenone and went to see her. He left Mount Ida and joined Helen, although Oenone warned him that their union would bring disaster.

War followed. In battle, Philoctetes shot Paris with a poisoned arrow. The arrow grazed his hand, but its poison caused terrible pain. The Trojans carried him into the city, where physicians treated him through the night. At dawn, still suffering, Paris asked to be taken to Oenone on Mount Ida. His friends placed him on a litter and carried him up the steep path to her cave.

Oenone came to the doorway when she heard Paris call her. He stretched out his hands towards her knees as a suppliant, but she drew back and gathered up her robe. Paris begged her to heal him. He said that the Fates had led him to Helen and that he wished he had died before seeing her. Oenone did not heal him. His bearers carried him back by another path, and he died beneath the oak trees. They took his body to Troy, where Helen sang over him as she had sung over Hector. The Trojans built a pyre and burned Paris as night fell. Oenone wandered through the dark woods, crying and calling after him.

Paris left Oenone in the forest and went to Troy to see Helen. He and Oenone had lived happily among the hills. Oenone was believed to possess the power to heal wounded men, however severe their injuries. She dwelt in a cave on Mount Ida.

One day, Priam’s servants drove away a beautiful bull from Paris’s herd. Paris followed it into Troy. Hecuba examined him closely and saw the ring she had tied around her baby’s neck before he was taken from her. She knew him as her son and wept with joy. The Trojans forgot the prophecy that he would become a burning torch of fire. Priam gave him a house like those of the other Trojan princes.

Then the fame of Helen reached Troy. Paris went to see her and forgot Oenone. Helen sat and spun while red drops fell and vanished from the ruby called the Star. Paris thought that he had never seen a woman so lovely, and Helen thought that no prince was as beautiful as Paris.

The accounts differ over Helen’s departure. Some say that Paris used magic to appear as Menelaus and carried her across the sea. Others say that the gods took Helen to Egypt and made a ghost in her likeness. Another account says that she was seized while Menelaus was hunting.

In a later tradition, Oenone sent her son Corythus to Troy. Helen saw Corythus and fell in love with him. Paris discovered the affair and killed his own son in the city.

Oenone bore Corythus, her son by Paris, while they lived together in the forest on Mount Ida. Oenone was a mountain nymph, and she possessed the power to heal wounded men, however severe their injuries. Paris and Oenone lived happily together.

Their life changed when Priam’s servants drove a beautiful bull from Paris’s herd into Troy. Paris followed them from the hills. Hecuba saw him and recognised the ring that she tied around her baby’s neck before he was taken away. She also knew him by his beauty. Hecuba wept with joy, and Priam gave Paris a house among the homes of the Trojan princes.

The fame of Helen reached Troy. Paris forgot Oenone and went to see Helen. He left Oenone after she bore Corythus.

Later, Philoctetes shot Paris with a poisoned arrow. The arrow grazed his hand, and its poison caused him great pain. The Trojans carried him into the city, but the physicians could not ease his suffering. At dawn, Paris asked his friends to take him to Oenone on Mount Ida.

In one telling, the bearers laid Paris before Oenone, and he reached out to touch her knees as a suppliant. She drew back and refused to let him touch her robe. In another, the bearers carried him by another path, and Paris died beneath the branches of the oak trees. They carried his body to Troy, where his mother mourned him and Helen sang over him. The Trojans burned his body on a great pile of dry wood. Oenone wandered through the dark woods and called after Paris.