Apple of Discord

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An apple of discord is a reference to the Golden Apple of Discord which, according to Greek mythology, the goddess Eris (Gr. Ερις, "Strife") said that she would give "to the fairest" at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, sparking a vanity-fueled dispute between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite that eventually led to the Trojan War (for the complete story, see The Judgement of Paris). Thus, "apple of discord" became a euphemism for the disputes that are created over small "arbitrary" matters or for people who purposefully cause quarrels by saying or doing specific calculated incendiary things.

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").

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).

In the Eixample district of Barcelona there is a block nicknamed in Spanish, la manzana de la discordia, manzana meaning both "apple" and "city block". It was so named 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"

The word ΚΑΛΛΊΣΤῌ (Ancient Greek: kallistē, Modern Greek: kallisti; "for/to the most beautiful") was inscribed on the Golden Apple of Discord by Eris. Καλλίστῃ is the dative singular of the feminine superlative of καλός, beautiful. In Latin sources, the word is PULCHERRIMÆ.

The word Kallisti has become a principal symbol of the modern religion Discordianism. In non-philological texts (such as Discordian ones) the word is usually spelled (via back-translation) as καλλιστι, while most versions of Principia Discordia actually spell use καλλιχτι. In the afterword of the 1979 Loompanics edition, the author Gregory Hill said that was because on his IBM typewriter not all Greek letters coincided with Latin ones and he didn't know enough at the time to spot the mistake.

Kallistei inscription in the Cumae alphabet

Since the wedding of Peleus and Thetis was held on Mount Pelion in Magnesia, the inscription would have been in the local Cumae alphabet. Nestor's Cup provides a close example.

Other uses

• Kallisti (Καλλίστη) is also an ancient name of Santorini.

See also

• German Apple Front
• Golden apple
• Judgement of Paris
• Polemic