Gambling in the Iliad

There are a lot of different ways to gamble. Today, casinos literally make millions of dollars catering to people's gambling needs. Most of these places offer gambling games like craps, roulette, blackjack, and poker. Gambling is an immensely popular pastime, and it has spawned an entire industry. Casinos are not the only places where a person can have fun gambling though. In a nutshell, gambling is basically a form of guesswork: a person guesses whether or not an activity or even will have a certain outcome, and money is wagered on whether or not that bet is accurate. There is a certain thrill to being able to abandon one's fate to the uncontrollable winds of chance. This is only part of gambling's appeal though; the gains that a person stands to get when they win is also a considerable draw. It is not much of a surprise then, that gambling is an activity that is almost as old as humanity itself.

The oldest records of people participating in gambling games come from China, sometime around 2000B.C. However, there is no doubt that people have been gambling even long before then. It is even said that the Ancient Greeks placed bets on the original Olympic Games. Antiquity's legends and myths mention gambling games as well.

The main conflict in the Iliad, one of the greatest and oldest works of Classical literature, is said to have been sparked by a bet made by three goddesses: Aphrodite, Pallas Athena, and Hera. This ill-fated wager involved a golden apple, and a wager on whom Paris, a prince of Troy, would choose as the fairest.

Like a gambler who mischievously throws a play in simply to create a mess, Eris, the goddess of discord, presented the goddesses with a golden apple labeled "for the fairest," which created a considerable commotion among the deities of Olympus. Paris of Troy was chosen to select who the fairest goddess was. Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite each offered the prince of Troy something that he desired, and they wagered on whom he would choose as the fairest. The goddess Paris would choose would win the apple.

Paris chose Aphrodite after she offered him Helen, wife of the Greek king Menelaus and the most beautiful woman in the world. It was ultimately Paris and Helen's union that sparked the Trojan War. This story is clearly an example of a gambling play where the consequences of what one wagers have not been considered.