The judgement of Paris. Mosaic of los Amores, Castulo (Linares, Spain)

Judgment of Paris scene present in the Mosaic of the Amores. It is made with stone tiles (black, red, pink, white, gray, yellow) and vitreous paste (black, green, blue, yellow, orange) and is one of the main scenes along with the Selene myth and Endimion depicted next to it. The judgment developed in the same way: Gathered the gods on the occasion of the weddings of Thetis and Peleo, Eride, goddess of the Discord, annoyed for not being invited, threw in the middle of them a golden block, due to be delivered to the most beautiful of the goddesses. Aphrodite, Hera and Athena will fight for her. No one spoke for one of the three goddesses. Zeus (Jupiter for the Romans), the father of men and gods, commissioned Hermes (Mercury) to lead the three goddesses to Mount Ida so that Paris would choose the most beautiful goddess. The three goddesses claimed before Paris their reasons to be the most beautiful and promised him protection if he failed in his favor; Hera (Juno), the empire of all Asia; Athena (Minerva), who would win in all the fighting, and Aphrodite (Venus) the love of Helena de Esparta. Paris leaned for Aphrodite and she provided him with the love of Helena, wife of King Menelaus. The abduction and transfer to Troy of Helena, provoked the revenge of Menelaus and the consequent war. The judgment of Paris and the Trojan War also relate to one of the references of the mythical history of Rome: Aeneas, son of Anchises and Aphrodite (Venus), Trojan hero who left Troy with a group of relatives and survivors, and who is considered responsible for the origin of Rome. His journey from Troy (guided by Aphrodite) lead him through the Mediterranean Sea to the Lazio region in the Iberian Peninsula, passing through various adventures and locations. Once there, his sons Ascanio and Silvio, identified as Romulus and Rowing in Virgil’s Aeneid, continued their work and consolidated the development of Rome. The use of this scene undoubtedly leads to raise the temporal-causal connection between a remote legend and a historical present. From this connection is derived a visible halo of heroism for the present, a biased glorification of the Roman state and its leader. The excavations carried out in Cástulo in 2011 discovered, in area 2 of the archeological site, a large building of approximately 33x12 m (Building D) dated to the end of the first century A.D. The building would have been erected in honor of the emperor Domitian (51-96 AD) and would therefore have a public character. Its construction would respond to an imperial project, it would be a representation of the maiestas imperii and also of the emperor as representative of it. In this building the Mosaic of the Amores would have appeared. The datation proposed for it is from the end of the first century A.D. Other stylistic and literary criteria (the adaptation of the composition to the description of the two central scenes in the written sources) propose, however, the second century A.D., and even the III A.D. as the most appropriate chronological framework. Bibliography Jimenez, Y. (2014): “The possible building of imperial worship. A necessarily penultimate reflection.” Magazine 7 corners, 6: 89-103. López G. (2014): “The mosaic of the Amores de Castulo.” Review7corners, 6: 117- 126. Neira Mª L. (2018): “Around the mosaic of the Amores of Cástulo. Regarding the connection of Professor Blázquez with the Roman mosaics and Cástulo,” in N. Camarero (coord.): Vir validus et nobilis. Tribute to D. José María Blázquez Martínez. Linarenses Studies Centre pp. 239-266. Facebook of Cástulo: https://es-es.facebook.com/CastuloSigloXXI / Mosaic View at 360º https://skfb.ly/6HUYC