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There are many versions of this story in mythology. I was able to find many abbreviated version online, but no full texts. There is not much you need to know going into this story except a few basics.
Hera - Queen of the gods and wife/sister to Zeus.
Athena - Goddess of wisdom and warfare (duh!)
Aphrodite - Goddess of men's erotic love and passion
Hermes - The messenger god often sent on errands of Zeus. (His female counterpart was Iris for Hera, Goddess of Rainbows)
Paris - He later goes on to shirk off the entire Trojan War on his brother, Hector. Paris stole Helen from Menelaos, a very important Greek Lord. This war destroys all of Trojan civilization as it is taken over by the victorious Greeks.
Zeus decided to hold a feast in honor of
Peleus and Thetis’ wedding and all of the gods were invited,
from the great Ares to the little known Cloacina. However, one
goddess was over looked, Eris the goddess of Discord. And, of
all the goddess to not invite, this was one who would defiantly
hold a grudge.
Not one to be deterred Eris attended
the feast anyway and even left a wedding gift. A golden apple rolled
across the banquet table. This was, as I’m sure you might imagine, no ordinary golden apple. Inscribed on it in tiny letters was the phrase “For the most beautiful.” Immediately
each goddess claimed it must be hers! This proved a troubling situation
as tensions in the room were quickly getting out of control. Zeus
did the only thing he could think of, he decided to make a contest
out of the matter. But, being no fool he shirked the responsibility
of judging off to someone else. He commanded that Hermes take the
three main contenders for the apple, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite
to Mount Ida in Phrygia. The judge of the contest was chosen to be
a handsome youth there named Paris.
The three goddess arrived on Mount Ida with Hermes just as Paris was retiring for the day to his house. When he caught sight of the goddesses he unabashedly stared at their, well, divine figures. The troupe approached him and Hermes explained the situation. Paris immediately agreed to act as judge and led the gods to a hideaway in the woods so that they might have some privacy.
Each goddess began to spout why
they were superior to the next, and they shouted on and on for quite
some while. Paris begged to interrupt, and in his most pious voice
pointed out that this was a judgment of beauty. Wouldn’t it
be a much fairer contest is the contestants were disrobed and he
could take the whole of their nature in? The two virgins in the crowd,
Hera and Athena, harshly objected to this suggestion. But, Aphrodite
gave Paris a wink and removed her draperies. The other two goddess
eventually conceded when they saw what an advantage their nude figures
might pose in the judging.
After spending many hours merely staring at them in wonder, the goddess began to grow weary of putting on a show. Each decided to offer a bribe up for the prize of Most Beautiful. Hera offered Paris unlimited power for him to wield. He would be a king among men. But, Paris had little interest in power. He was already lord of all the land he had ever traveled in, and so gaining power over those he had never been to seemed too much trouble to take on.
Next Athena offered Paris unmatched
wisdom and skill in battle. Again, Paris declined because he was
never much for fighting. He preferred to let his big brother Hector
fight his battle for him. And wisdom, bah…who needs it?
Finally it was Aphrodite’s turn. She knew the key to Paris’ heart,
and she offered him marriage to the most beautiful mortal woman alive,
Helen. Without ever meeting her Paris eagerly accepted and announced
Aphrodite as the Fairest of Them All!
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Athena acts here as I have not yet presented her. She is in a contest that she could possibly, and does, lose. Every other myth I've chronicled here has included the certainty that Athena would be the victor in the end. She offers to Paris the things in life that she values most, wisdom and warfare. She is either not astute enough, or does not care enough, to look into Paris' character and offer him something he might really want.
Athena's virginity is very played up in this tale. While she does get into a petty beauty contest with her sisters, she is not so desperate to win it as to debase her modesty. She hesitates when asked to disrobe, and obviously shows distaste for being made to do it. In most artistic depictions she is shown as shying away from the gawking Paris. Her virginity was important, but not more important than winning.
("The Judgement of Paris")
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