The Arraignment of Paris

play by Peele

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June 18, 2026

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The Arraignment of Paris is a mythological play by Elizabethan dramatist George Peele, written around 1581–84. It was performed for Queen Elizabeth I by a troupe of boy actors. The play is a mythological extravaganza that centers on the "judgment of Paris," a popular theme in art and legend. In this story, Paris, a prince of Troy, is tasked by Zeus to decide which of three goddesses—Hera, Athena, or Aphrodite—is the most beautiful. Each goddess offers him a bribe, and Paris ultimately chooses Aphrodite, who promises him the most beautiful woman in the world. This choice leads to his seduction of Helen and ultimately the Trojan War.12

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George Peele
His earliest important work is The Arraignment of Paris (c. 1581–84), a mythological extravaganza written for the Children of the Chapel, a troupe of boy actors, and performed at court before Queen Elizabeth.
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His earliest important work is The Arraignment of Paris (c. 1581–84), a mythological extravaganza written for the Children of the Chapel, a troupe of boy actors, and performed at court before Queen Elizabeth.
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English literature
Professional playwrights
…plays are bold and pageantlike; The Arraignment of Paris (1584) is a pastoral entertainment, designed to compliment Elizabeth. Greene’s speciality was comical histories, interweaving a serious plot set among kings with comic action involving clowns. In his Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (1594) and James IV (1598), the antics of…
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…plays are bold and pageantlike; The Arraignment of Paris (1584) is a pastoral entertainment, designed to compliment Elizabeth. Greene’s speciality was comical histories, interweaving a serious plot set among kings with comic action involving clowns. In his Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (1594) and James IV (1598), the antics of…
Read More