<P> Though abandoned by her father as an infant, Atalanta became a skilled hunter and received acclaim for her role in the hunt for the Calydonian boar . Her father claimed her as his daughter and wished to marry her off . However, Atalanta was reluctant to marry due to a prophecy that marriage would be her downfall . Because of her beauty, she gained a number of suitors and finally agreed to marry, but under the condition that her suitor was obligated to beat her in a footrace . Competitors who failed to beat her would be put to death . As Atalanta could run extremely fast, all her suitors died . Realizing that Atalanta could not be defeated in a fair race, Melanion prayed to Aphrodite for help . The goddess gave him three golden apples and told him to drop them one at a time to distract Atalanta . Sure enough, she quit running long enough to retrieve each golden apple . It took all three apples and all of his speed, but Melanion finally succeeded, winning the race and Atalanta's hand . </P> <P> Eventually they had a son Parthenopaios, who was one of the Seven against Thebes . Their marriage ended in misfortune when they were transformed into lions (which the Greeks believed were unable to mate with their own species, only with leopards) for offending the gods . </P> <P> Zeus held a banquet in celebration of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis . Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited for her troublesome nature, and upon turning up uninvited, she threw a golden apple into the ceremony, with an inscription that read: "ΤΗΙ ΚΑΛΛΙΣΤΗΙ" (Ancient Greek: τῇ καλλίστῃ tē (i) kallistē (i), Modern Greek: τη καλλίστη ti kallisti; "for / to the most beautiful"--cf . Callisto). Three goddesses claimed the apple: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite . They brought the matter before Zeus . Not wanting to get involved, Zeus assigned the task to Paris of Troy . Paris had demonstrated his exemplary fairness previously when he awarded a prize unhesitatingly to Ares after the god, in bull form, had bested his own prize bull . </P> <P> Zeus gave the apple to Hermes and told him to deliver it to Paris and tell him that the goddesses would accept his decision without argument . As each goddess wanted to receive the apple, they each stripped off their own clothing and appeared naked before Paris . Each of the goddesses also offered Paris a gift as a bribe in return for the apple; Hera offered to make him the king of Europe and Asia, Athena offered him wisdom and skill in battle, and Aphrodite offered to give to him as a wife a most beautiful woman, Helen of Sparta, who in the legend was already married to Menelaus . Paris foolishly chose Aphrodite's bribe of committing adultery, a decision that caused the destruction of both adulterous Paris and his city, Troy, via the Trojan war . </P>

Who threw the golden apple in greek mythology