“ Hell has no wrath like a woman scorned!” ~ a notable quote which sounds Shakespearean but actually comes from a play called the "The Mourning Bride" written in 1697 by William Congreve. The complete quote is "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned / Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned," which simply means that if you hurt a woman mad expect nothing less than burning hell in return. Erros certainly pays substantial respect to a woman's pusillanimous fury when he envisioned the character of Eris, the goddess or spirit of strife, discord, contention and rivalry. She was often represented specifically as the daemon of the strife of war, who haunted the battlefield and delighted in human bloodshed. A sister and companion of murderous Ares, the god of war, is more generally known for the less deadly forms of conflict; political strife, personal contention, rivalry and wrangling but the potential for evoking her deadly nature is ever present. The classic fairy tail story Sleeping Beauty is partly inspired by Eris's role in the wedding of Peleus and Thetis Like Eris, a malevolent fairy curses a princess after failing to be invited to the princess' christening. Because of Eris' disagreeable nature she was the only goddess not to be invited to the wedding. Slighted by the exclusion, she tossed into the party the Golden Apple of Discord with inscription “ 'For the most beautiful One” inciting the Goddesses( Hera, Athena and Aphrodite) to begin quarreling about the appropriate recipient. The hapless Paris, Prince of Troy, was appointed to select the fairest by Zeus. The goddesses stripped naked to try to win Paris' decision, and also attempted to bribe him. Hera offered political power; Athena promised skill in battle; and Aphrodite tempted him with the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. Paris chose to award the apple to Aphrodite, thereby dooming his city, which was destroyed in the war that ensued. ( wikipedia.org; theoi.com; mytagora.com)
