What were the causes of the Trojan war?

Answer 1

It is believed that, at the godly wedding feast of Peleus and the nymph Thetis, the goddess of strife, Eris, who had not been invited to the celebration, decided to cause mischief in retribution for this slight, by leaving a mysterious golden apple at the banquet, with a note addressed "for the fairest one". This gift immediately created conflict between Athene, Aphrodite and Hera who each claimed the apple as their own. Zeus, who knew better than to decide the matter himself, suggested that the best man to judge would be the handsomest man on earth, a young prince of Troy named Paris, who was currently a guest in the house of King Menelaus of Sparta. The goddesses appeared before a bewildered Paris, as he rested alone on a hilltop, and they demanded upon him to decide the contest. Each of the goddesses bribed Paris with a gift in return for the apple, though it was the gift offered by Aphrodite, the offer of making the most beautiful woman in the world his bride, that swayed Paris to declare Aphrodite the winner. This was the myth of "The Judgement of Paris". It so happened that the most beautiful woman in the world was Helen, the wife of Paris' host Menelaus. Paris quickly stole Helen away from Menelaus and fled back to his home city of Troy. Menelaus was outraged by the stealing of his wife, and called upon his brother, Agamemnon, to lead a military campaign to recapture her. Many years ago, prior to Helen's marriage to Menelaus, a pact had been sworn among Helen's many suitors to come to the aid of whoever would be chosen as Helen's husband, so as to prevent quarrels from elevating into battles once Helen's husband was actually chosen. Agamemnon now called upon the members of this pact, including Odysseus, Ajax, Idomeneus and Patroclos, to stand by their oath and launch their navies against Paris and the city of Troy for stealing away Helen and to retrieve her. It is for this reason that Christopher Marlowe describes Helen of Troy as being "the face that launched a thousand ships".