Prince Paris of Troy

For a few months now I have been heavily researching Prince Paris of Troy. I have not ceased to be fasinated with the actions and the responses of this man. Now, I shall tell you his story using quotes from book works such as The Fall of Troy, Heroides, and The Illiad. I also have some printed internet notes, whose sources I ignorantly failed to document. However, they are mainly facts that are well known from those book sources, just said simplier. I will also point out areas where the USA mini-series, Helen of Troy was wrong. The Paris of that series is nothing like the true Paris of Troy.

Paris' Face

To begin with, let me start by saying that I believe the Paris from Troy whom Orlando Bloom is portraying will be a much more accurate picture of this prince than has been painted before in film.
Paris was, in a nutshell, a bit unsure. He was promised a beautiful women, took her, and never looked back. Paris was a musician and an archer, but not a great warrior. He was a lover, not a fighter. He was, in some ways, less brave than Hector, but in some ways surpassed his brother's courage. Paris is not the weakling people make him out to be. He is not the whinny young man whom most think he is. Paris was, in my opinion, one of the most interesting men in history. He was committed, though careless at times, but he knew his job and what was needed of him during the war. Paris of Troy was hated by his people amd hated by his family. However, he remainded faithful and served them to the bitter end.

A Bust of Paris

Paris was not raised as the son of King Priam of Troy. At his birth, his mother, Hecuba, dreamt of her second son. The oracle of the King, Aesacus, interpreted her dream, saying that Paris (as he was called by birth) would bring destruction. He would be a firebrand to their kingdom. Because of this, Alexander was giving to one of Priam's servents, Agelaus, to be taken and left on Mount Ida.

He left the boy on the mountain top. However, five days later, Agelaus returned to find that the child had been nursed by a bear and survived the elements. He took the boy to live with him, to become a shepherd, and he named him Alexander.

However, upon Mount Olympus there was a huge debate taking place. Zeus (also known as Jupiter) was told that he had to judge the beauty of three of the most famous goddesses. He was to choose, and give a golden apple, to the most beautiful, weth it be Athena, Hera, or Aphrodite.

Paris gives the Golden Apple to Aphrodite

Jupiter (Zeus), not willing to decide in so delicate a matter, sent the goddesses to Mount Ida, where the beautiful shepherd Paris was tending his flocks, and to him was committed the decision. The goddesses accordingly appeared before him. Juno (Hera) promised him power and riches, Minerva (Athena) glory and renown in war, and Venus (Aphrodite) the fairest of women for his wife, each attempting to bias his decision in her own favour. Paris decided in favour of Venus (Aphrodite) and gave her the golden apple, thus making the two other goddesses his enemies.
- Bulfinch's Mythology (pg.168)

Paris and Oenone

Now Paris, when he was younger and before the goddesses appeared to him, had already taken a wife. Her name was Oenone, a nymph and daughter of the river god Cebren. She had the gift of foresight and, even though she saw that Paris would one day leave her for another, she loved him with all her heart. He too shared that love, until the day he gave Aphrodite the golden apple and fate was set into motion.

Helen of Troy was correct in the fact that some of King Priam's servents came to Mount Ida to fetch a bull. They took Paris' favorite bull, and he followed them. After defeating everyone, including his brothers, he was nearly killed by Deiphobus (one of those brothers) in anger. Paris feld and took refuge at Zeus' alter. Cassandra, a seer and sister to Paris, found him there and told her father who the young man truly was. Priam, delighted to know that Alexander, now to be known as Paris, was alive and well and he welcomed him into his palace.

Paris and Helen

Under the protection of Venus (Aphrodite), Paris sailed to Greece, and was hospitably recieved by Menelaus, king of Sparta. Now Helen, the wife of Menelaus, was the very woman whom Venus (Aphrodite) had destined for Paris, the fairest of her sex. She had been sought as a bride by numerous suitors, and before her decision was made known, they all, at the suggestion of Ulysses, one of their number, took an oath that they would defend her from all unjury and avenge her cause if necessary. She chose Menelaus, and was living with him happily when Paris became their guest. Paris, aided by Venus (Aphrodite), persuaded her to elope with him, and carried her to Troy, whence arose the famours Trojan war, the theme of the greatest poems of antiquity, those of Homer and Virgil.
-Bulfinche's Mythology (pg. 168-169)

Paris had ships built and sailed them to Lacedaemon once he was a Prince of Troy. There he was Menelaus' guest for nine days, until the King had to go and attend the funeral of his grandfather, Cathreus. When Menelaus left, he said to Helen "Look to my affairs, and to the household, and to our guest from Troy." -Ovid: Heroides

Obviously she looked to him quite well and before Menelaus returned, they departed from Lacedaemon for Troy upon Paris' ships. They put a lot of Helen's wealth onto the ship and then left to consumate their marriage on the island of Cranae.

Paris abducts Helen

Paris' Letter To Helen Though I can think of many more things to write, only welcome me into your bed in the silence of the night and we can speak together, lying there face to face. Perhaps you are ashamed and afraid to break the bonds of married love and be false to a bed's purity that is yours by law. But that is too simple, even crude; Helen, can you still think beauty like yours can ever remain in chastity? You must change, either your beauty or your firm resolution; beauty and virtue are in contention. Jove (Zeus) and Venus (Aphrodite) both have found their delight in the sins of stealth, and such a secret sin made Jove (Zeus) your father. If character is conveyed by seed, the child of Jove (Zeus) and Leda could not be chaste. But you can be chaste, though not until you have safely come within my Trojan walls; let your sin, I pray, be mine alone. We will sin together now, but sin will be undone in the hour of our marriage. My only prayer now is that the promise Venus (Aphrodite) once made to me will be true. Your husband himself forces you to this by his actions, though hardly by his words: that the guest may steal, he has removed himself. This was the only time he could find to visit his kingdom on Crete. Surely he is a husband wonderfully shrewd. 'In my place, I commend to your care all of my affairs and our guest from Ida,' he said, preparing to leave. I swear to you, if you neglect the stated wishes of your master, you do not care for your guest.

Helen's Letter To Paris You claim to act out the promise of Venus (Aphrodite), that somewhere in the wilds of Ida three goddesses appeared naked before you: that the first offered a kingly throne, the second material triumphs, and the third said, 'Tyndareus' daughter will be your bride!' It is quite hard to believe that heaven's own would submit their beauty to your eyes, but if true, then for sure the rest of your tale is a made-up thing, when I am said to be the reward given you for your choice. I do not consider my beauty so great that I should ever be the finest gift a grateful goddess could bestow. I am content with knowing that my beauty is well thought of in the eyes of men; if my beauty were to be praised by Venus (Aphrodite) I fear it would occasion envy. But I will make no denial, I am pleased to hear the compliments you convey. Why should these words that I write to you deny what is desired by my mind and heart? Be not hurt that I am slow to believe you, faith should lag in things so important. I am pleased if my beauty has been noticed by Venus (Aphrodite) and pleased too that you thought me the greatest prize and also that you placed first neither the honours of Juno (Hera) nor those of Pallas after you had been told about the great beauty of Helen. I am courage then, I am a famous throne. If I did not love a heart like yours, I would be made of iron; but iron I am not, believe me, though I resist loving one I have decided can hardly be mine. My beauty oppresses me, for as your kind praises me, the more [my husband] rightly fears. This delightful glory also condemns me: sometimes I wish fame had passed me by. Do not wonder that he has gone and left me here, he has learned to trust my virtue. My face gives him cause to fear, my life calms him; my virtue is his security while my beauty arouses his deepest fears. You argue that opportunity tendered so freely ought not to be wasted; a simple husband should profit us. I am torn between desire and proper fear; I have not decided, I waver. My lord is gone, your sleep is lonely; beauty attracts you to me as me to you. The nights are endless, and we have met to speak; you - poor me - utter compelling words and we together live beneath the same roof. Let me die if all does not conspire to cause my downfall; but fear still restrains me. I wish that you could compel me with honour to do what you have so vilely invited. You should have dismissed at once the qualms of my rude heart. It can happen that profit will come to those who suffer evil; I might have been forced to accept happiness. Let us resist this new love; a flame freshly lit dies quickly if sprinkled with just a little water. A stranger's love is not dependable, like him it wanders and when it seems most sure, it is gone.

Paris abducts Helen

There are four different opinions of what happened next.
1.) Mythology states that Hera, the wife of Zeus, turned against Paris and Helen because the prince did not give her the golden apple. It was said that strong sea storms forced the Trojan ships onto the shores of Sidon in Phoenicia.
2.) However, history paints the picture that Paris and his men actually attacked the port city, taking with them many rich robes which Paris ment to give to his mother, among other things.
3.) Some say that they sought refuge in Cyprus and Phoenicia to escape the wrath of Helen's brothers, the Dioscuri (whom the Gemini constellation represents).
4.) The last group remains true to the affirmation that Paris and Helen reached Troy in three days with fair winds and calm seas.

Paris and Helen

The people of Troy welcomed Helen, all except for Paris' sister, Cassandra. She had foreseen the destruction this path would lead to, yet none believed her words. Even King Priam was fond of Helen. However, it appears that Paris' brother, Hector, soon changed his mind and reprimded Paris many times, yet he was loath to return Helen to her former husband.

Menelaus meanwhile, outraged, gathered all of the allied people with him to go to war, for they had sworn an oath to one another.

Priam was king of Troy, and Paris, the shepherd and seducer of Helen, was his son. Paris had been brought up in obscurity, because there were certain ominous forebodings connected with him from his infancy that he would be the ruin of the state. These forebodings seemed at length likely to be realized, for the Grecian armament now in preparation was the greatest that had ever been fitted out.
-Bulfinch's Mythology (pg.169-170)

When thousands upon thousands of Greeks hit the shores of the Trojan lands, it soon became evident that the people of Troy were turning upon Paris and his choice.

So spake Polydamas the noble and strong,
And all the listening Trojans in their hearts
Approved; yet none dared utter openly
The word, for all with trembling held in awe
Their prince and Helen, though for her sole sake
Daily they died. But on that noble man
Turned Paris, and reviled him to his face:
“Thou dastard battle-blencher Polydamas!
Not in thy craven bosom beats a heart
That bides the fight, but only fear and panic.
Yet dost thou vaunt thee - quotha! - still our best
In counsel! - no man’s soul is base as thine!
Go to, thyself shrink shivering from the strife!
Cower, coward, in thine halls! But all the rest,
We men, will still go armour-girt, until
We wrest from this our truceless war a peace
That shall not shame us! ‘Tis with travail and toil
Of strenuous war that brave men win renown;
But flight? - weak women choose it, and young babes!
They spirit is like to theirs. No whit I trust
Thee in the day of battle - thee, the man
Who maketh faint the hearts of all the host!”
So fiercly he reviled: Polydamas
Wrathfully answered; for he shrank not, he,
From answering to his face. A caitiff hound,
A reptile fool, is he who fawns on men
Before their faces, while his heart is black
With malice, and, when they be gone, his tongue
Backbites them. Openly Polydamas
Flung back upon the prince his taunt and scoff:
“O thou of living men most mischievous!
Thy valour - quotha! - brings us misery!
Thine heart endures, and will endure, that strife
Should have no limit, save in utter ruin
Of fatherland and people - for thy sake!
Ne’er may such wantwit valour craze my soul!
Be mine to cherish wise discretion aye,
A warder that shall keep mine house in peace.”
Indignantly he spake, and Paris found
No word to answer him, for conscience woke
Remembrance of all woes he had brought to Troy,
And should bring; for his passion-fevered heart
Would rather hail quick death than severance
From Helen the divinely fair, although
For her sake was it that the sons of Troy
Even then were gazing from their towers to see
The Argives and Achilles drawing nigh.
-The Fall of Troy, Book II: Pg.73-74 Ln.67-99

Prince Paris

As war raged between the Achaeans and the Trojans, Paris thought to end the entire war quickly by dueling one-on-one with an Achaean fighter. He did not expect to be fighting against Menelaus himself, and thus shrank away in fear. However, Hector boosted his younger brother's courage.

When they were close up with one another, Paris came forward as champion on the Trojan side. On his shoulders he bore the skin of a panther, his bow, and his sword, and he brandished two spears shod with bronze as a challenge to the bravest of the Achaeans to meet him in single fight. Menelaus saw him thus stride out before the ranks, and was glad as a hungry lion that lights on the carcass of some goat or horned stag and devours it there and then, though dogs and youths set upon him. Even thus was Menelaus glad when his eyes caught sight of Paris, for he deemed that now he should be revenged. He sprang, therefore, from his chariot, clad in his suit of armor.
Paris quailed as he saw Menelaus come foward, and shrank in fear of his life under cover of his men. As one who starts back affrighted, tembling and pale, when he comes suddenly upon a serpent in some mountain glade, even so did Paris plunge into the throng of Trojan warriors, terror-stricken at the sight of the son of Atreus.
Then Hector upbraided him. "Paris," said he, "evil-hearted Paris, fair to see, but woman-mad and false of tonuge, would that you had never been born, or that you had died unwed. Better so, than live to be disgraced and looked askance at. Will not the Achaeans mock at us and say that we have sent one to champion us who is fair to see but who has neither wit nor courage? Did you not, such as you are, get your following together and sail beyond the seas? Did you not from a far country carry off a lovely woman wedded among a people of warriors - to bring sorrow upon your father, your city, and your whole country, but joy to your enemies, and hangdog shamefacedness to yourself? And now can you not dare face Menelaus and learn what manner of man he is whose wife you have stolen? Where indeed would be your lyre and your love tricks, your comely locks and your fair favor, when you were lying in the dust before him? The Trojans are a weak-kneed people, or ere this you would have had a shirt of stones for the wrongs you have done them."
And Paris answered: "Hector, your rebuke is just. You are hard as the ax which a shipwright wields at his work, and cleaves the timber to his liking. As the ax in his hand, so keen is the edge of your scorn. Still, taunt me not with the gifts that golden Aphrodite has given me; they are precious; let not a man disain them, for the gods give them where they are minded, and none can have them for the asking. If you would have me do battle with Menelaus, bid the Trojans and Achaeans take their seats, while he and I fight in their midst for Helen and all her wealth. Let him who shall be victorious and prove to be the better man take the woman and all she has, to bear them to his home, but let the rest swear to a solemn covenant of peace whereby you Trojans shall stay here in Troy, while the others go home to Argos and the land of the Achaeans."
When Hector heard this he was glad and went about among the Trojan ranks, holding his spear by the middle to keep them back, and they all sat down at his bidding: but the Achaeans still aimed at him with stones and arrows, till Agamemnon shouted to them, saying, "Hold, Argives, shoot not, sons of the Achaeans. Hector desires to speak."
They ceased taking aim and were still whereon Hector spoke. "Hear from my mouth," said he, "Trojans and Achaeans, the saying of Paris, through whom this quarrel has come about. He bids the Trojans and Achaeans lay their armor upon the ground, while he and Menelaus fight in the midst of you for Helen and all her wealth. Let him who shall be victorious and prove to be the better man take the woman and all she has, to bear them to his own home, but let the rest swear to a solemn covenant of peace."
-The Iliad (pg. 46)

There were rules however and oaths to be sworn. The winner would win Helen forever and the loser would be content with that promise.

...and the son of Atreus lifted up his hands in prayer. "Father Zeus," he cried, "that rulest in Ida, most glorious in power, and thou O Sun, that seest and givest ear to all things, Earth and Rivers, and ye who in the realms below chastise the soul of him that has broken his oath, witness these rites and guard them, that they be not vain. If Paris kills Menelaus, let him keep Helen and all her weath, while we sail home with our ships; but if Menelaus kills Paris, let the Trojans give back Helen and all that she has; let them moreover pay such fine to the Achaeans as shall be agreed upon, in testimony among those that shall be born hereafter. And if Priam and his sons refuse such fine when Paris has fallen, then will I stay here and fight on till I have got satisfaction."
-The Iliad (pg. 49)

Menelaus

And so, Paris and Menelaus set out upon the battlefield...

Great Hector now turned his head aside while he shook the helmet, and the lot of Paris flew out first. The others then took their several stations, each by his horses and the place where his arms were lying, while Paris, husband of lovely Helen, put on his goodly armor. First he greaved his legs with greaves of good make and fitted with ankle-clasps of silver; after this he donned the cuirass of his brother Lycaon, and fitted it to his own body. He hung his silver-studded sword of bronze about his shoulders, and then his mighty shield. On his comely head he set his helmet, well-wrought, with a crest of horsehair that nodded menacingly above it, and he grasped a redoubtable spear that suited his hands. In like fashion Menelaus also put on his armor.
When they had thus armed, each amid his own people, they strode fierce of aspect into the open space, and both Trojans and Achaeans were struck with awe as they beheld them. They stood near one another on the measured ground, brandishing their spears, and each furious against the other. Paris aimed first, and struck the round shield of the son of Atreus, but the spear did not pierce it, for the shield turned its point. Menelaus next took aim, praying to Father Zeus as he did so. "King Zeus," he said, "grant me revenge on Paris who has wronged me. Subdue him under my hand that in ages yet to come a man may shrink from doing ill deeds in the house of his host."
He poised his spear as he spoke and hurled it at the shield of Paris. Through shield and cuirass it went and tore the shirt by his flank, but Paris swerved aside, and thus saved his life. Then the son of Atreus drew his sword, and drove at the projecting part of his helmet, but the sword fell shivered in three or four pieces from his hand, and he cried, looking towards heaven, "Father Zeus, of all gods thou art the most despiteful; I made sure of my revenge, but the sword has broken in my hand, my spear has been hurled in vain, and I have not killed him."
With this he flew at Paris, caught him by the horsehair plume of his helmet, and began dragging him towards the Achaeans. The strap of the helmet that went under his chin was choking him, and Menelaus would have dragged him off to his own great glory had not Zeus' daughter Aphrodite been quick to the mark and to break the strap of oxhide, so that the empty helmet came away in his hand. This he flung at his comrades among the Achaeans, and was again springing upon Paris to run him through with a spear, but Aphrodite snatched him up in a moment (as a god cando), hid him under a cloud of darkness, and conveyed him to his own bedchamber.
Then she went to call Helen, and found her on a high tower with the Trojan women crowding round her. She took the form of an old woman who used to dress wool for her when she was still in Lacedaemon, and of whom she was very fond. Thus disguised, she plucked her by her perfumed robe, and said; "Come hither; Paris says you are to go to the house; he is on his bed in his own room, raidiant with beauty and dressed in gorgeous apparel. No one would think he had just come from fighting, but rather that he was going to a dance, or had done dancing and was sitting down."
With these words she moved the heart of Helen to anger. When she marked the beautiful neck of the goddess, her lovely bosom, and sparkling eyes, she marveled at her and said: "Goddess, why do you thus beguile me? Are you going to send me afield still further to some man whom you have taken up in Phrygia or fair Meonia? Menelaus has just vanquished Paris, and is to take my hateful self back with him. You are come here to betray me. Go sit with Paris yourself; henceforth be goddess no longer; never let your feet carry you back to Olympus; worry about him and look after him till he make you his wife, or, for the matter of that, his slave - but me? I shall not go; I can garnish his bed lo longer. I should be a by-word among all the women of Troy. Besides, I have trouble on my mind."
Aphrodite was very angry, and said: "Bold hussy, do not provoke me; if you do, I shall leave you to your fate and hate you as much as I have loved you. I will stir up fierce hatred between Trojans and Achaeans, and you shall come to a bad end."
At this Helen was frightened. She wrapped her mantle about her and went in silence, following the goddess and unnoticed by the Trojan women.
When they came to the house of Paris the maidservants set about their work, but Helen went into her own room, and the laughter-loving goddess took a seat and set it for her facing Paris. On this Helen, daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, sat down, and with eyes askance began to upbraid her husband.
"So you are come from the fight," said she; "would that you had fallen rather by the hand of that brave man who was my husband. You used to brag that you were a better man with your hands and spear than Menelaus; go, then, and challenge him again - but I should advise you not to do so, for if you are foolish enough to meet him in single combat, you will soon fall by his spear."
And Paris answered: "Wife, do not vex me with your reproaches. This time, with the help of Athene, Menelaus has vanquished me; another time I may myself be victor, for I too have gods that will stand by me. Come, let us lie down together and make friends. Never yet was I so passionately enamoured of you as at this moment - not even when I first carried you off from Lacedaemon and sailed away with you - not even when I had converse with you upon the couch of love in the island of Cranae was I so enthralled by my desire of you as now." On this he led her towards the bed, and his wife went with him.
Thus they laid themselves on the bed together; but the son of Atreus strode among the throng, looking everywhere for Paris, and no man, neither of the Trojans nor of the allies, could find me. If they had seen him they were in no mind to hide him, for they all of them hated him as they did death itself. Then Agamemnon, king of men, spoke, saying: "Hear me, Trojans, Dardanians, and allies. The victory has been with Menelaus. Therefore give back Helen with all her wealth, and pay such fine as shall be agreed upon, in testimony among them that shall be born hereafter."
- The Iliad (pg.50-53)

Paris

Paris lost his battle with Menelaus, but he did not loose his life. The fighting continued and, when Hector finally found his brother, he had a thing or two to say to him.

While they were thus praying to the daughter of great Zeus, Hector went to the fair house of Paris, which he had had built for him by the foremost builders in the land. They had built him his house, storehouse, and couryard near those of Priam and Hector on the acropolis. Here Hector entered, with a spear eleven cubits long in his hand; the bronze point gleamed in front of him, and was fasted to the shaft of the spear by a ring of gold. He found Paris within the house, busied about his armor, his shield and cuirass, and handling his curved bow; there, too, sat Argive Helen with her women, setting them their several tasks; and as Hector saw him he rebuked him with words of scorn. "Sir," said he, "you do ill to nurse this rancor. The people perish fighting round this our town. You would yourself chide one whom you saw shirking his part in the comabt. Up then, or ere long the city will be in a blaze."
And Paris answered: "Hector, your rebuke is just; listen therefore, and believe me when I tell you that I am not here so much through rancor or ill will towards the Trojans, as from a desire to indulge my grief. My wife was even now gently urging me to battle, and I hold it better that I should go, for victory is ever fickle. Wait, then, while I put on my armor, or go first and I will follow. I shall be sure to overtake you."
-The Iliad (pg. 95-96)

Yet, Paris was quick to his word and brave as well. He quickly put on his armor and abided by his promise to his brother, meeting Hector in the streets of Troy soon afterwards.

Paris did not remain long in his house. He donned his goodly armor overlaid with bronze, and hasted through the city as fast as his feet could take him. As a horse, stabled and full fed, breaks loose and gallops gloriously over the plain to the place where he is wont to bathe in the fair-flowing river - he holds his head high, and his mane streams upon his shoulders as he exults in his strength and flies like the wind to the ahunts and feeding ground of the mares - even so went forth Paris from high Pergamus, gleaming like sunlight in his armor, and he laughed aloud as he sped swiftly on his way. Forthwith he came upon his brother Hector, who was then turning away from the place where he had held converse with his wife, and he was himself the first to speak. "Sir," said he, "I fear that I have kept you waiting when you are in haste, and have not come as quickly as you bade me."
"My good brother," answered Hector, "you fight bravely, and no man with an justice can make light of your doings in battle. But you are careless and willfully remiss. It grieves me to the heart tohear the ill that the Trojans speak about you, for they have suffered much on your account. Let us be going, and we will make things right hereafter, should Zeus vouchsafe us to set the cup of our deliverance before the ever-living gods of heaven in our own homes, when we have chased the Achaeans from Troy."
With these words Hector passed through the gates, and his brother Paris with him, both eager for the fray. As when heaven sends a breeze to sailors who have long looked for one in vain and have labored at their oars till they are faint with toil, even so welcome was the sight of these two heroes to the Trojans. Thereon Paris killed Menesthius, the son of Areithous.
-The Iliad (pg. 101)

Hector upbraids Paris after finding him

Paris killed his share of enemies in the war. He wounded Diomedes and Machaon and killed many others. Names on his casualty list are those of Cleodorus, Cleolaus, Deiochus, Demoleon, Eetion, Euchenor, Evenor, Menesthius, Mosynus, Phrocys, and the great Achilles himself.

An arrow from Paris's bow wounded Machaon, son of Aesculapius, who inherited his father's art of healing, and was therefore of great value to the Greeks as their surgeon, besides being one of their bravest warriors.
- Bulfinch's Mythology (pg.173)

Still the Achaeans would have given no ground, had not Paris, husband of lovely Helen, stayed the prowess of Machaon, shepherd of his people, by wounding him in the right shoulder with a triple-barbed arrow.
-The Iliad (pg. 170)

So, by the hands of Tydeus’ son laid low
Upon the Trojan plain, far, far away
From their own highland-home, they fell. Not these
Alone died; for the might of Sthenelus
Down on them hurled Cabeirus’ corse, who came
From Sestos, keen to fight the Argive foe,
But never saw his fatherland again.
Then was the heart of Paris filled with wrath
For a friend slain. Full upon Sthenelus
Aimed he a shaft death-winged, yet touched him not,
Despite his thirst for vengeance: otherwhere
The arrow glanced aside, and carried death
And slew Evenor brazen-tasleted,
Who from Dulichium came to war with Troy.
-The Fall of Troy, Book I Pg.23 Ln.265-275

Then Paris’ arrow slaid proud Phorcys low,
And Mosynus, brethren both, from Salamis
Who came in Aias’ ships, and nevermore
Saw the home-land. Cleolaus smote he next,
Merges’ stout henchman; for the arrow struck
His left breast: deadly night enwrapped him round,
And his soul fleeted forth: his fainting heart
Still in his breast fluttering convulsively
Made the winged arrow shiver. Yet again
Did Paris shoot at bold Eetion.
Through his jaw leapt the sudden-flashing brass:
He groaned, and with his blood were mingled tears.
So ever man slew man, till all the space
Was heaped with Argives each on other cast.
-The Fall of Troy, Book VI Pg.299 Ln.630-645

Paris himself however, was injured, at least twice, during these wars. At least, that is how I have read it.

Then against Aias Paris strained his bow;
But he was ware thereof, and sped a stone
Swift to the archer’s head: that dolt of death
Crashed through his crested helm, and darkness closed
Round him. In dust down fell he: naught availed
His shafts their eager lord, this way and that
Scattered in dust: empty his quiver lay,
Flew from his hand the bow. In haste his friends
Upcaught him from the earth, and Hector’s steeds
Hurried him thence to Troy, scarce drawing breath,
And moaning in his pain. Nor left his men
The weapons of their lord, but gathered up
All from the plain, and bare them to the prince;
While Aias after him sent a wrathful shout:
”Dog, thou hast ‘scaped the heavy hand of death
To-day! But swiftly thy last hour shall come
By some strong Argive’s hands, or by mine own.
But now have I a nobler task in hand,
From murder’s grip to rescue Achilles’ corse.”
-The Fall of Troy, Book III Pg.139 Ln.332-347

Thoas pricked Paris with quick-thrusting spear
On the right thigh: backward a space he ran
To rearward of the fight.
-The Fall of Troy, Book VI Pg.295 Ln.585-587

It seemed, however, that the war would never end, so Paris offered the Achaeans an alternative.

He then sat down and Paris, husband of lovely Helen, rose to speak. "Antenor," said he, "your words are not to my liking; you can find a better saying than this if you will. If, however, you have spoken in good earnest, then indeed has heaven robbed you of your reason. I will speak plainly, and hereby notify to the Trojans that I will not give up the woman; but the wealth that I brought home with her from Argos I will restore, and will add yet further of my own."
- The Iliad (pg. 109)

Agamemnon and Menelaus disregarded the offer however, and the war continued on. Paris continued to deal blows to the Achaeans, even to their horses.

Nestor, knight of Gerene, alone stood firm, bulwark of the Achaeans, not of his own will, but one of his horses was disabled. Paris, husband of lovely Helen, had hit it with an arrow just on top of its head where the man begins to grow away from the skull, a very deadly place. The horse bounded in his anguish as the arrow pierced his brain, and his struggles thre the others into confusion.
-The Iliad (pg. 115)

Worse perhaps, Paris began to take a liking to his skills in battle and began to boast, even to his enemies.

As he spoke he began stripping the spoils from the son of Paeon, but Paris, husband of lovely Helen, aimed an arrow at him, leaning against a pullar of the monument which men had raised to Ilus, son of Dardanus, a ruler in days of old. Diomed had taken the cuirass from off the brest of Agastrophus, his heavy helmet also, and the shield from off his shoulder, when Paris drew his bow and let fly an arrow that sped not from his hand in vain, but pierced the flat of Diomed's right foot, going right through it and fixing itself in the ground. Thereon Paris with a hearty laugh sprang forward from his hiding place, and tauned him saying: "You are wounded - my arrow had not been shot in vain. Would that it had hit you in the belly and killed you, for thus the Trojans, who fear you as goats fear a lion, would have had a truce from evil."
Diomed all undaunted answered: "Archer, you who without your bow are nothing, slanderer and secuder, if you were to be tried in single combat fighting in full armor, your bow and your arrows would serve you in little stead. Vain is your boast in that you have scratched the sole of my foot. I care no more than if a girl or some silly boy had hit me. A worthless coward can inflict but a light wound. When I wound a man, though I but graze his skin, it is another matter, for my weapon will lay him low. His wife will tear her cheeks for grief and his children will be fatherless: there will he rot, reddening the earth with his blood, and vultures, not women, will gather round him."
-The Iliad (pg. 167-168)

Paris, in the background, shooting at his enemies. A wounded Achilles is in the foreground.

The battle became steadily worse and worse, with tremendous losses on both sides.

He then sped onward, towering like a snowy mountain, and with a loud cry flew thorugh the ranks of the Trojans and their allies. When they heard his voice they all hastened to gather round Polydamas, the excellent son of Panthous, but Hector kept on among the foremost, looking everywhere to find Deiphobus and prince Helenus, Adamas, son of Asius, and Asius, son of Hyrtacus; living, indeed, and scatheless he could no longer find them, for the two last were lying by the sterns of the Achaean ships, slain by the Argives, while the others had been also stricken and wounded by them; but upon the left wing of the dread battle he found Paris, husband of lovely Helen, cherring his men and urging them on to fight. He went up to him and upbraided him. "Paris," said he, "evil-hearted Paris, fair to see but woman-mad and false of tongue, where are Deiphobus and King Henelus? Where are Adamas, son of Asius, and Asius, son of Hyrtacus? Where too is Othryoneus? Ilium is undone and will now surely fall!"
Paris answered: "Hector, why find fault when there is no one to find fault with? I should hold aloof from battle on any day rather than this, for my mother bore me with nothing the the coward about me. From the moment when you set out men fighting about the ship we have been staying here and doing battle with the Danaans. Our comrades about whom you ask me are dead. Deiphobus and King Henelus alone have left the field, wounded both of them in the hand, but the son of Cronus saved them alive. Now, therefore, lead on where you would have us go, and we will follow with right good will. You shall not find us fail you in so far as our strength holds out, but no man can do more than in him lies, no matter how willing he may be."
-The Iliad (pg. 209-210)

Many had died and even more were to perish before the end of the war. However, with a mistake on Hector's part, the elder prince of Troy perished under the might of Achilles. With his last breath, he told Achilles a prophecy.

Hector with his dying breath then said: "I know you what you are, and was sure that I should not move you, for your heart if hard as iron; look to it that I bring not heaven's anger upon you on the day when Paris and Phoebus Apollo, vailaint though you be, shall slay you at the Scaean gates."
-The Iliad (pg. 345)

Priam was furious with his sons, even Paris, for what had happened to Hector and blamed them saying,

Then he called to his sons, upbraiding Helenus, Paris, noble Agathon, Pammon, Antiphonus, Polites of the loud battle cry, Deiphobus, Hippothous, and Dius. These nine did the old man call near him. "Come to me at once," he cried, "worthless sonds who do me shame! Would that you had all been killed at the ships rather than Hector. Miserable man that I am, I have had the bravest sons in all Troy - noble Mestor, Troilus, the dauntless charioteer, and Hector who was a god among men, so that one would have though he was son to an immortal - yet there is not one of them left. Ares has salin them and those of whom I am ashamed are alone left me. Liars, and light of foot, heroes of the dance, robbers of lambs and kids from your own people, why do you not get a wagon ready for me at once, and put all these things upon it that I may set out on my way?"
-The Iliad (pg. 378)

Achilles did not believe Hector's prophecy, yet it came true. Paris was now out for revenge and to make things right in his father's eyes. So, using his archery skills, Paris was able to slay Achilles in the one place the warrior was vanurable, his heel.

While in the temple of Apollo, negotiating the marriage, Paris discharged at him a poisoned arrow, which, guided by Apollo, wounded Achilles in the heal, the only vulnerable part about him.
- Bulfinch's Mythology (pg.182)

The Death of Achilles in the Temple of Apollo by Paris' arrow

Paris, and the people of Troy, were overjoyed with the defeat of Achilles. It was a great blow to the Acheaens and it looked like the Trojans may be able to get the upper hand in this war. Out of joy at his shoot, Paris said this to his people...

Yet Paris strove to kindle those faint hearts;
For his own heart exulted, and he hoped,
Now Peleus’ son, the Danaans’ strength, had fallen.
Wholly to quench the Argive battle-fire:
“Friends, if ye help me truly and loyally,
Let us this day die, slain by Argive men,
Or live, and hale to Troy with Hector’s steeds
In triumph Peleus’ son thus fallen dead,
The steeds that, grieving, yearning for their lord
To fight have borne me since my brother died.
Might we with these but hale Achilles slain,
Glory were this for Hector’s horses, yea,
For Hector - if in Hades men have sense
Of righteous retribution. This man aye
Devised but mischief for the sons of Troy;
And now Troy’s daughters with exultant hearts
From all the city streets shall gather round,
As pantheresses wroth for stolen cubs,
Or lionesses, might stand around a man
Whose craft in hunting vexed them while he lived.
So round Achilles - a dead corpse at last! -
In hurrying throngs Troy’s daughters then shall come
In unforgiving, unforgetting hate,
For parents wroth, for husbands slain, for son,
For noble kinsmen. Most of all shall joy
My father, and the ancient men, whose feet
Unwillingly are chained within the walls
By eld, if we shall hale him through our gates,
And give our foe to fowls of the air or meat.”
-The Fall of Troy, Book III Pg.129&131 Ln.186-210

They had also been joined by even more warriors, such as Alcides.

Of bold Alcides many a deed beside
Shone on the broad shield of Eurypylus.
He seemd the War-god, as from rank to rank
He sped; rejoiced the Trojans following him,
Seeing his arms, and him clothed with the might
Of Gods; and Paris hailed him to the fray:
“Glad I am for thy coming, for mine heart
Trusts that the Argives all shall wretchedly
Be with their ships destroyed; for such a man
Mid Greeks or Trojans never have I seen.
Now, by the strength and fury of Hercules -
To whom in stature, might, and goodlihead
Most like thou art - I pray thee, have in mind
Him, and resolve to match his deeds with thine.
Be the strong shield of Trojans hard-bested:
Win us a breathing-space. Thou only, I trow,
From perishing Troy canst thrust the dark doom back.”
With kindling words he spake. That hero cried:
“Great-hearted Paris, like the Blessed Ones
In goodlihead, this lieth forordained
On the God’s knees, who in the fight shall fall,
And who outlive it. I, as honour bids,
And as my strength sufficeth, will not flinch
From Troy’s defence. I swear to turn from fight
Never, except in victory or death.”
Gallantly spake he: with exceeding joy
Rejoiced the Trojans. Champions than he chose, Alexander (Paris) and Aeneas firey-souled,
Polydamas, Pammon, and Deiphobus,
And Aethicus, of Paphlagonian men
The satuchest man to stem the tide of war;
Those chose he, cunning all in battle-toil,
To meet the fore in forefront of the fight.
-The Fall of Troy, Book VI Pg.275-277 Ln.290-320

All things must come to an end however, and Paris' end was nigh. He had avenged his brother's death and given the people hope once more. The Trojans appeared to be winning, but when Philoctetes, with his powerful bow.

Philoctetes was cured of his wound by Machaon, and Paris was the first victim of the fatal arrows. In his distress Paris bethought him of one nymph Oenone, whom he had married when a youth, and had abandoned for the fatal beauty Helen. Oenone remembering the wrongs she had suffered, refused to heal the wound, and Paris went back to Troy and died. Oenone quickly repented, and hastened after him with remedies, but came too late, and in her grief hung herself.
- Bulfinch's Mythology (pg.183)

Paris was wounded and badly so. He went to his first wife, Oenone, and begged her forgiveness, yet she scorned him still. Some say she hung herself (see above) and others that she jumped upon Paris' funeral prye. Either way, the lover turned fighter Prince Paris of Troy, was killed through a very painful death.

But Paris at the last to meet him sprang
Fearlessly, bearing in his hands his bow
And deadly arrows - but his latest day
Now met himself. A flying shaft he sped
Forth from the string, which sang as leapt the dart,
Which flew not vainly: yet the very mark
It missed, for Philoctetes swerved aside
A hair-breadth, and it smote above the breast
Cleodorus war-renowned, and cleft a path
Clear through his shoulder; for he had not now
The buckler broad which wont to fence from death
Its bearer, but was falling back from fight,
Being shieldless; for Polydamas’ massy lance
Had cleft the shoulder-belt whereby his targe
Hung, and he gave back therefore, fighting still
With stubborn spear. But now the arrow of death
Fell on him, as from ambush leaping forth.
For so Fate willed, I trow, to bring dread doom
On noble-hearted Lernus’ scion, born
Of Amphiale, in Rhodes the fertile land.
But soon as Poeas’ battle-eager son
Marked him by Paris’ deadly arrow slain,
Swiftly he strained his bow, shouting aloud:
“Dog! I will give thee death, will speed thee down
To the Unseen Land, who darest to brave me!
And so shall they have rest, who travail now
For thy vile sake. Destruction shall have end
When thou art dead, the author of our bane.”
Then to his breast he drew the plaited cord.
The great bow arched, the merciless shaft was aimed
Straight, and the terrible point a little peered
Above the bow, in that constraining grip.
Loud sang the string, as the death-hissing shaft
Leeapt, and missed not: yet was no Paris’ heart
Stilled, but his spirit yet was strong in him;
For that first arrow was not winged with death:
It did but graze the fair flesh by his wrist.
Then once again the avenger drew the bow,
And the barbed shaft of Poeas’ son had plunged,
Eere he could swerve, twixt flank and groin. No more
He abode the fight, but swiftly hasted back
As hastes a dog which on a lion rushed
At first, then fleeth terror-stricken back.
So he, his very heart with agony thrilled,
Fled from the war. Still clashed the grappling hosts,
Man slaying man: aye bloodier waxed the fray
As rained the blows: corpse upon corpse was flung
Confusedly, like thunder-drops, or flakes
Of snow, or hailstones, by the wintry blast
At Zeus’ behest strewn over the long hills
And forest-boughs; so by a pitiless doom
Slain, friends with foes in heaps on heaps were strown.
Sorely groaned Paris; with the torturing wound
Fainted his spirit. Leeches sought to allay
His frenzy of pain. But now drew back to Troy
The Trojans, and the Danaans to their ships
Swiftly returned, for dark night put an end
To strife, and stole from men’s limbs weariness,
Pouring upon their eyes pain-healing sleep.
But through the livelong night no sleep laid hold
On Paris: for his help no leech availed,
Though ne’er so willing, with his salves. His weird
Was only by Oenone’s hands to escape
Death’s doom, if so she willed. Now he obeyed
The prophecy, and he went - exceeding loth,
But grim necessity forced him thence, to face
The wife forsaken. Evil-boding fowl
Shrieked o’er his head, or darted past to left,
Still as he went. Now, as he looked at them,
His heart sank; now hope whispered, “Haply vain
Their bodings are!” - but on their wings were borne
Visions of doom that blended with his pain.
Into Oenone’s presence thus he came.
Amazed her thronging handmaids looked on him
As at the Nympth’s feet the pale suppliant fell
Faint with the anguish of his wound, whose pangs
Stabbed him through brain and heart, yea, quivered through
His very bones, for that fierce venom crawled
Through all his inwards with corrupting fangs;
And his life fainted in him agony-thrilled.
As one with sickness and tormenting thirst
Consumed, lies parched, with heart quick-shuddering,
With liver seething as in flame, the soul,
Scarce conscious, fluttering at his burning lips,
Longing for life, for water longing sore;
So was his breast one fire of torturing pain.
Then in exceeding feebleness he spake:
“O reverenced wife, turn not from me in hate
For that I left thee widowed long ago!
Dragged me to Helen - oh that I had died
Ere I embraced her - in thine arms had died!
Ah, by the Gods I pray, the Lords of Heaven,
By all the memories of our wedded love,
Be merciful! Banish my bitter pain:
Lay on my deadly wound those healing salves
Which on can, by Fate’s decree, remove
This torment, if thou wilt. Thine heart must speak
My sentence to be saved from death or no.
Pity me - oh, make haste to pity me!
This venom’s might is swiftly bringing death!
Heal me, while life yet lingers in my limbs!
Remember not those pangs of jealousy,
Nor leave me by a cruel doom to die
Low fallen at thy feet! This should offend
The Prayers, the Daughter of the Thunderer Zeus,
Whose anger followeth unrelenting pride
With vengeance, and the Erinnys executes
Their wrath. My queen, I sinned, in folly sinned;
Yet from death save me - oh, make haste to save!”
So prayed he; but her darkly-brooding heart
Was steeled, and her words mock his agony:
“Thou comest unto me! - touh, who didst leave
Erewhile a wailing wife in a desolate home! -
Didst leave her for thy Tyndarid darling! Go,
Lie laughing in her arms for bliss! She is better
Than thy true wife - is, rumour saith, immortal!
Make haste to kneel to her - but not to me!
Weep not to me, nor whimper pitiful prayers!
Oh that mine heart beat with a tigress’ strength,
That I might tear thy flesh and lap thy blood
For all the pain thy folly brought on me!
Vile wretch! Where no is Love’s Queen glory-crowned?
Hath Zeus forgotten his daughter;s paramour?
Have them for thy deliverers! Get thee hence
Far from my dwelling, curse of Gods and men!
On deathless Gods, for sons and son’s sons slain.
Hence from my threshold! - to thing Helen go!
Agonize day and night beside her bed:
There whimper pierced to the heart with cruel pangs,
Until she heal thee of thy grievous pain.”
So from her doors she drave that groaning man -
Ah fool! Not knowing her own doom, whose weird
Was straightway after him to tread the path
Of death! So Fate had spun her destiny-thread.
Then, as he stumbled down through Ida’s brakes,
Where Doom on his death-path was leading him
Painfully haulting, racked with heart-sick pain,
Hera beheld him, with rejoicing soul
Throned in the Olympian palace-court of Zeus.
Of these things with her handmaids did the Queen
Of Heaven hold converse, and of many such,
But Paris, while they talked, gave up the ghost
On Ida: never Helen saw him more.
Then unto travail-burdened Priam’s queen
A herdman told the dread doom of her son.
Wildly her trembling heart leapt when she heard;
With failing limbs she sank to earth and wailed:
“Dead! - thou dead, O dear child! Grief heaped on grief
Hast thou bequeathed me, grief eternal! Best
Of all my sons, save Hector alone, wast thou!
While beats my heart, my grief shall weep for thee.
The hand of Heaven is in our sufferings:
Some Fate devised our ruin - oh that I
Had llived not to endure it, but had died
In days of wealthy peace! But now I see
Woes upon woes, and ever look to see
Worse things - my children slain, my city sacked
And burned with fire by stony-hearted foes,
Daughter, son’s wives, all Trojan women, haled
Into captivity with our little ones!”
So wailed she; but the King heard naught thereof,
But weeping ever sat by Hector’s grave,
For most of all his sons he honoured him,
His mightiest, the defender of his land.
Nothing of Paris knew that pierced heart;
But long and loud lamented Helen; yet
Those wails were but for Trojan ears; her soul
With other thoughts was busy, as she cried:
“Husband, to me, to Troy, and to thyself
A bitter blow is this thy woeful death!
In misery hast thou left me, and I look
To see calamities more deadly yet.
Oh that the Spirits of the Storm had snatched
Me from the earth when first I fared with thee
Drawn by a baleful Fate! I might not be;
The Gods have meted ruin to thee and me.
With shuddering horror all men look on me,
All hate me! Place of refuge is there none
For me; for if to the Danaan host I fly,
With torments will they greet me. If I stay,
Troy’s sons and daughters here will compass me
And rend me. Earth shall cover not my corpse,
But dogs and fowl of ravin shall devour.
Oh and Fate slain me ere I see these woes!”
So cried she: but for him far less she mourned
Than for herself, remembering her own sin.
Yea, and Troy’s daughters but in semblance wailed
For him: of other woes their hearts were full.
Some thought on parents, some on husbands slain,
These on their sons, on honoured kinsmen those.
Only one heart was pierced with grief unfeigned,
Oenone. Not with them of Troy she wailed,
But far away within that desolate home
Moaning she lay on her lost husband’s bed.
As when the copses on high mountains stand
White-veiled with frozen snow, which o’er the glens
The west-wind blasts have strown, but now the sun
And east-wind melt it fast, and the long heights
With water-courses stream, and down the glades
Slide, as they thaw, the heavy sheets, to swell
The rushing waters of an ice-cold spring,
So melted she in tears of anguished pain,
And for her own, her husband, agonized,
And cried to her heart with miserable moans:
“Woe for my wickedness! O hateful life!
I loved mine hapless husband - dreamed with him
To pace to eld’s bright threshold hand in hand,
And heart in heart! The gods ordained not so.
Oh had the black Fates snatched me from the earth
Ere I from Paris turned away in hate!
Myliving love hath left me! - yet will I
Dare to die with him, for I loathe the light.”
So cried she, weeping, weeping piteously,
Remembering him whom death had swallowed up,
Wasting, as melteth wax before the flame -
Yet secretly, being fearful lest her sire
Should mark it, or her handmaids - till the night
Rose from broad Ocean, flooding all the earth
With darkness bringing men release from toil.
Then, while her father and her maidens slept,
She slid the bolts back of the outer doors,
And rushed forth like a storm-blast. Fast she ran,
As when a heifer ‘mid the mountains speeds,
Her heart with passion stung, to meet her mate,
And madly races on with flying feet,
And fears not, in her frenzy of desire,
The herdman, as her wild rush bears her on,
So she but find her mate amid the woods;
So down the long tracks flew Oenone’s feet
Seeking the awful pyre, to leap thereon.
No weariness she knew: as upon wings
Her feet flew faster ever, onward spurred
By fell Fate, and the Cyprian Queen. She feared
No shaggy beast that met her in the dark -
Who erst had feared them sorely - rugged rock
And precipice of tangled mountain-slope,
She trod them all unstumbling; torrent-beds
She leapt. The white Moon-goddess from on high
Looked on her, and remembered her own love,
Princely Endymion, and she pitied her
In that wild race, and, shining overhead
In her full brightness, made the long tracks plain.
Through mountain-gorges so she won to where
Wailed other Nymphs round Alexander’s corpse.
Roared up about him a great wall of fire:
For from the mountains far and near had come
Shepherds, and heaped the death-bale broad and high
For love’s and sorrow’s latest service done
To one of old their comrade and their king.
Sore weeping stood they round. She raised no wail,
The broken-hearted, when she saw him there,
But, in her mantle muffling up her face,
Leapt on the pyre: loud wailed that multitude.
There burned she, clasping Paris. All the Nymphs
Marvelled, beholding her beside her lord
Flung down, and heart to heart spake whispering:
“Verily evil-hearted Paris was,
Who left a leal true wife, and took for bride
A wanton, to himself and Troy a curse.
Ah fool, who recked not of the broken heart
Of a most virtuous wife, who more than life
Loved him who turned from her and loved her not!”
So in their hearts the Myphs spake: but they tain
Burned on the pyre, never to hail again
The dayspring. Wondering herdman stood around,
As once the thronging Argives marveling saw
Evadne clasping mid the fire her lord
Capaneus, slain by Zeus’ dread thunderbolt.
But when the blast o the devouring fire
Had made twain one, Oenone and Paris, now
One little heap of ashes, then with wind
Quenched they the embers, and they laid their bones
In a wide golden vase, and round them piled
The earth-mound; and they set two pillars there
That each from other ever turn away;
For the old jealousy in the marble lives.
-The Fall of Troy, Book X Pg.435-453 Ln.205-490

Oenone

Paris was dead, and the entire city of Troy mourned his loss. Though some were grateful deep within their hearts, for they thought this would end the war.

Troy’s daughter mourned within her walls; might none
Go forth to Paris’ tomb, for far away
From high-built Troy it lay. But the young men
Without the city toiled unceasingly
In fight wherein from slaughter rest was none,
Though dead was Paris; for the Achaeans pressed Hard on the Trojans even unto Troy.
-The Fall of Troy, Book XI Pg.455 Ln.1-7

However, the war did not end because even with Paris' death, Helen remained in Troy. The Trojan Horse came along and, with it, the destruction of the entire city and it's people.

Troy burned and Helen was taken back by Menelaus. The entire war had been in vein it seemed.

However, I still believe that the doings of Paris are most interesting. You can see that he had bravery when it counted and that he was committed to the cause (and greatly so). He cared for his family and his people, so he fought to protect them as much as he did to keep his wife.

One piece of info I bet you did not know, was that Paris had a son by Oenone and three by Helen. Below is a family tree and it is interesting to note the following about his children. Paris sons by Helen were murdered and crushed during Troy's collapse. However, Paris' son from Oenone he himself killed. Corythus, having arrived in Troy, fell in love with his father's new bride, Helen. Because he shared his father's beautiful looks, Paris killed him when he learned of his aims for Helen.

The House of Troy

Here are some final thoughts from the notes in Heroides...

Paris is a commonplace gallant, with a slight vernear of culture; but at times he strays into vulgarity and almost coarseness. The reply of Helen, who is more refined, but a regular flirt, who is young and fair and has the gift to know it.
Where or when had it been stated, or what might had Paris to assume without stating, that this was a case in which it was agreeable to fear? 'The very danger increases one's passion.'
He was said to have got the name Alexander from his rescuing his flocks from lizards.
A favourite bull of his was carried off by servents of Priam to be a prize at funeral games held in his (Paris') honor. Paris here shows out in bringing forward the despised archery, not as his chief warlike accomplishment, which it was, but as an additional accomplishment.

I believe I will let you make your own decision on Paris however. Above I have given you all the information I myself possess and have read. I hope you come to the same conclusions as I have. I cannot say that stealing Helen was right, but everyone makes mistakes. I think that Paris acted foolishly and for the rest of his life he tried to make things right. He wasn't perfect and the important thing is that he tried. There is a little of Paris in all of us...

Prince Paris of Troy