Cassandra

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Cassandra

Nationality/Culture

Greek/Roman

Pronunciation

kuh-SAN-druh

Alternate Names

Alexandra

Appears In

Homer's Iliad, Hyginus's Fabulae

Lineage

Daughter of Priam and Hecuba

Character Overview

In Greek mythology , Cassandra was the daughter of Priam and Hecuba , the king and queen of Troy. Cassandra was the most beautiful of Priam's daughters, and the god Apollo fell in love with her. Apollo promised Cassandra the gift of prophecy—the ability to see the future— if she would agree to give herself to him. Cassandra accepted Apollo's gift but then refused his advances. Apollo was furious, but he could not take back the powers he had given her. Instead, he cursed her, proclaiming that although she would be able to tell the future accurately, no one would believe her. Before announcing her prophecies, Cassandra went into a type of trance that made her family believe she was insane.

In Homer's Iliad , Cassandra predicted many of the events of the Trojan War. Priam's son Paris planned a trip to Sparta. Cassandra warned against it, but her warnings were ignored. Paris traveled to Sparta, where he kidnapped Helen , starting the war with Greece. Cassandra later predicted Troy's defeat and warned the Trojans not to accept the Greek gift of the Trojan horse. Again she was ignored, and Greek troops hidden inside the wooden horse captured the city. During the battle, a Greek soldier known as Ajax the Lesser raped Cassandra in the temple of Athena . Athena later punished Ajax and his men for the deed.

After the Greek victory, Cassandra was given to the Greek leader Agamemnon as a prize. She bore Agamemnon two sons and later returned to Greece with him. However, she also predicted that a terrible fate awaited Agamemnon and herself. When they reached Agamemnon's home in Mycenae, they were both murdered by Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus.

Cassandra in Context

In ancient Greece, the belief that certain individuals could see the future—or were told the future by the gods—was common. Those who could see the future were believed to get this power from the god Apollo and were called oracles. Oracles were often found at temples dedicated to Apollo. The most famous ancient Greek oracle, located at Delphi , was at the site of a large temple to Apollo. According to legend and historians, the oracle at Delphi, or the Delphic oracle, was always female.

Key Themes and Symbols

In the legends of the Trojan War, Cassandra symbolizes futility, the inability to be useful. Although Cassandra can see exactly what will happen to her family and their city, she cannot do anything about it because no one believes her. In this way, Cassandra also serves as a symbol of destiny, the idea that the future has already been determined by the gods.

Cassandra in Art, Literature, and Everyday Life

Although Cassandra plays a rather small role in the legends of the Trojan War, her unique character has endured and has appeared in numerous other works of art and literature. In modern literature, Cassandra's point of view is told in Marion Zimmer Bradley's historical novel The Firebrand (1987). Cassandra also appears in the futuristic tale “Cassandra” by C. J. Cherryh, which won a Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1979.

The term “Cassandra” is sometimes used in modern times to refer to someone who makes predictions that are ignored or disbelieved, but later proven accurate.

Read, Write, Think, Discuss

Many modern stories include a character similar to Cassandra, who says things that are ignored or considered nonsense until they come true. One example is the title character in the Disney animated film Chicken Little (2005), in which the title character tries to warn others about an alien invasion. Try to think of a single example from a book you have read, or a movie or television show you have seen. Describe the story and the character, and explain how the character is like Cassandra. What were the reasons the character's prediction was ignored?

U*X*L Encyclopedia of World Mythology