Oenone : Summary

Summary

Stanzas 1–5,  Oenone’s Expression of Grief: At the beginning of the poem, the poet shows us a beautiful mountain valley near Mount Ida. The scene includes hills, forests, flowers, streams, and the sound of flowing water — everything feels peaceful and natural. In this quiet valley, a girl named Oenone sits all alone. She is very sad and heartbroken. She misses her beloved Paris, who once stayed with her. But now he has left her, and she is left to suffer in loneliness.

Oenone lovingly calls the mountain “Mother Ida” and says she wants to speak to the mountain one last time. She asks nature to listen to her pain. The environment around her is completely still — there is no sound of lizards in the grass, no movement of insects, and even the wind has stopped blowing. Everything is silent and calm.

Oenone says her eyes are full of tears, her heart was once full of love, but now it is broken. She speaks to the mountains, caves, rivers, and every part of nature, asking them to listen to her sorrow. She talks about red flowers, bees, snakes — all the natural things around her. She introduces herself as the daughter of the river god and starts singing a sad song. She hopes that singing will ease her pain a little. She remembers the past — when she was at the foot of the mountain in the morning, Paris had come to her, all alone, with a black goat. Paris was very kind back then — but now, he has become someone with a bad heart.

Stanzas 10–20, The Story of the “Golden Apple of Discord”: Next, the poet brings a famous story from Greek mythology — the tale of the Golden Apple of Discord. At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, all the Olympian gods and goddesses were invited. But Eris, the goddess of chaos and conflict, was not invited to the celebration. Eris always brings trouble wherever she goes, so the gods decided to leave her out.

When Eris sees that every single god and goddess has been invited except her, she feels insulted and becomes very upset. She decides to take revenge by creating confusion at the wedding. To do this, she throws a golden apple into the crowd of goddesses and writes on it: “For the fairest” — meaning, for the most beautiful one.

Eris touches the apple three times, and each time, the name of a different goddess appears. The three goddesses are Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Now, a major confusion begins: each of the three claims that she is the fairest and deserves the apple. This causes an argument among them, and they begin to fight over who is the most beautiful. This is how the quarrel starts — and this story is known in Greek mythology as the “Golden Apple of Discord.”

At last, the three goddesses — Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite — decide to find a solution to the argument. They go together to Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods, and tell him everything. But Zeus says he cannot decide who is the most beautiful. He adds that only a human can judge this matter fairly. So, Zeus chooses Paris, a young shepherd prince, to be the judge.

To bring Paris, Zeus sends his messenger god Hermes. At that time, Paris is spending lovely days with his lover Oenone on Mount Ida. Hermes takes Paris from there to act as the judge. Zeus tells the goddesses that whatever Paris decides — everyone must accept that. Paris will choose who is truly the fairest among them.

Offer of Hera: Hera, the queen of heaven and wife of Zeus, is the goddess of power. She offers Paris: “If you choose me, I will make you the king of Europe and Asia.”

Offer of Athena: Athena, the goddess of wisdom, courage, and war, says, “If you choose me, I will make you the strongest warrior in the world. I will give you great knowledge so that you will never lose any battle.”

Offer of Aphrodite: Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, says: “If you choose me, I will give you the most beautiful woman in the world to be your wife.”

Paris becomes very confused. He thinks for a long time. Finally, he chooses Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess. When Oenone hears about this, she is heartbroken. She feels like she is dying inside. She cries in pain and thinks, “Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful wife? Am I not beautiful? Paris told me many times that I am beautiful. Just yesterday, even a wildcat looked at me playfully. Didn’t it find me beautiful?” At the end Oenone wishes, “Oh, Paris! I wish I could hold you close to my heart again! I wish I could kiss your lips again! My love would fall like the rains of the monsoon.”

According to the promise, Aphrodite sends Paris to Troy so he can get the most beautiful woman in the world. From there, Paris goes to Sparta for a peace mission. In Sparta, Aphrodite makes Helen, the wife of King Menelaus, fall in love with Paris. Then Paris runs away with Helen and brings her to Troy.

Stanza 21–25: Paris’s Betrayal and Oenone’s Desire for Revenge: In the last part of the poem, we see Oenone crying out to her mountain home, Mount Ida, which is like her mother. She calls out in deep pain. She says that the tall pine trees on the mountain — her only friends in her lonely life — have been cut down. Those trees gave beauty to her valley. Under those trees, baby eagles lived, and every morning she heard the wild animals calling from far away. Now, everything is gone. She says she will never again see the mist, the moonlight, or the stars the way she used to. Her world feels lost.

Oenone wishes she could face the wicked goddess Eris, who threw the golden apple at the feast of the gods. That one action started the quarrel among the goddesses, which led to Paris’s bad decision. Oenone says if she could meet Eris, she would tell her how angry she is and how much pain Eris has caused.

Then Oenone remembers her past. She remembers how Paris once sat with her on this mountain and spoke words of love. He made promises, and they both cried with joy. But now, those same tears come only from pain and heartbreak. Oenone wonders how the heavens and the earth can remain silent while she suffers so much. She wishes that death would come to her and end all her pain.

But now, Oenone is not only full of sorrow — she is full of burning anger. She says she will not die alone. A terrible fire of rage is growing inside her. She doesn’t fully understand it yet, but she feels something dangerous is being born in her heart — like a mother who starts imagining the face of the child she is carrying.

Oenone finally makes a decision. She does not want to die alone. She fears that Paris and Helen will be laughing together while she suffers alone. That is something she cannot bear. So, she decides to go to Troy and speak to Cassandra, the prophetess who sees the future filled with fire and war. Oenone does not know what Cassandra sees, but in her own heart, everything is already burning. Day and night, all she feels is the fire of pain, betrayal, and revenge.