Cassandra

CassandraorKassandra(/kəˈsændrə/;^[2]Ancient Greek:Κασσάνδρα,pronounced[kas:ándra],sometimes referred to asAlexandra;Ἀλεξάνδρα)^[3]inGreek mythologywas a Trojan priestess dedicated to the godApolloand fated by him to utter truepropheciesbut never to be believed. In modern usage her name is employed as a rhetorical device to indicate a person whose accurate prophecies, generally of impending disaster, are not believed.

Cassandra wasa daughterof KingPriamand QueenHecubaofTroy.Her elder brother wasHector,the hero of the Greek-Trojan War.The older and most common versions of the myth state that she was admired by the god Apollo, who sought to win her love by means of the gift of seeing the future. According toAeschylus,she promised him her favours, but after receiving the gift, she went back on her word. As the enraged Apollo could not revoke a divine power, he added to it the curse that nobody would believe her prophecies. In other sources, such asHyginusandPseudo-Apollodorus,Cassandra broke no promise to Apollo, but rather the power of foresight was given to her as an enticement to enter into a romantic engagement, the curse being added only when it failed to produce the result desired by the god.

Later versions on the contrary describe her falling asleep in a temple, where snakes licked (or whispered into) her ears which enabled her to hear the future.^[a]

Etymology

Hjalmar Frisk(Griechisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch,Heidelberg, 1960–1970) notes "unexplained etymology", citing "various hypotheses" found in Wilhelm Schulze,^[4]Edgar Howard Sturtevant,^[5]J. Davreux,^[6]andAlbert Carnoy.^[7]R. S. P. Beekes^[8]cites García Ramón's derivation of the name from theProto-Indo-Europeanroot *(s)kend-"raise". The Online Etymology Dictionary states "though the second element looks like a fem. form of Greekandros"of man, male human being." Watkins suggests PIE*(s)kand-"to shine" as source of second element. The name also has been connected tokekasmai"to surpass, excel.^[9]"

Description

Cassandra was described by the chroniclerMalalasin his account of theChronographyas "shortish, round-faced, white, mannish figure, good nose, good eyes, dark pupils, blondish, curly, good neck, bulky breasts, small feet, calm, noble, priestly, an accurate prophet foreseeing everything, practicing hard, virgin".^[10]Meanwhile, in the account ofDares the Phrygian,she was illustrated as "...of moderate stature, round-mouthed, andauburn-haired.Her eyes flashed. She knew the future. "^[11]

Biography

Cassandra was one of the many children born to the king and queen of Troy,PriamandHecuba.She is thefraternal twinsister ofHelenus,as well as the sister toHectorandParis.^[12]One of the oldest and most common versions of her myth states that Cassandra was admired for her beauty and intelligence by the god Apollo, who sought to win her with the gift to see the future. According toAeschylus,Cassandra promised Apollo favors, but, after receiving the gift, went back on her word and refused Apollo. Since the enraged Apollo could not revoke a divine power, he added a curse that nobody would believe Cassandra's prophecies.

Mythology

Cassandra appears in texts written byHomer,Virgil,AeschylusandEuripides.Each author depicts her prophetic powers differently.

In Homer's work, Cassandra is mentioned a total of four times "as a virgin daughter of Priam, as bewailing Hector's death, as chosen byAgamemnonas his slave mistress after the sack of Troy, and is killed byClytemnestraover Agamemnon's corpse after Clytemnestra murders him on his return home.^[13]"

In Virgil's work, Cassandra appears in book two of his epic poem titledAeneid,with her powers of prophecy restored. In Book 2 of the Aeneid, unlike Homer, Virgil presents Cassandra as having fallen into a mantic state^[14]and her prophecies reflect it.

LikewiseSeneca the Younger,in his playAgamemnon,has her prophesy why Agamemnon deserves his recorded death:

Quid me vocatis sospitem solam e meis, umbrae meorum? te sequor, tota pater Troia sepulte; frater, auxilium Phrygum terrorque Danaum, non ego antiquum decus video aut calentes ratibus ambustis manus, sed lacera membra et saucios vinclo gravi illos lacertos. te sequor… (Ag. 741–747)

Why do you call me, the lone survivor of my family, My shades? I follow you, father buried with all of Troy; Brother, bulwark of Trojans, terrorizer of Greeks, I do not see your beauty of old or hands warmed by burnt ships, But your lacerated limbs and those famous shoulders savaged By heavy chains. I follow you...^[14]

Later on in Seneca's work, this behavior is reflected in acts 4 and 5 as "Her mantic vision in act 4 will be supplemented by a further (in)sight into what is going on inside the palace in act 5 when she becomes a quasi-messenger and provides a meticulous account of Agamemnon's murder in the bath: 'I see and I am there and I enjoy it, no false vision deceives my eyes: let's watch' (video et intersum et fruor, / imago visus dubia non fallit meos: / spectemus.)^[15]"

Gift of prophecy

Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy, but was also cursed by the god Apollo so that her true prophecies would not be believed. Many versions of the myth relate that she incurred the god's wrath by refusing him sexual favours after promising herself to him in exchange for the power of prophecy. In Aeschylus'Agamemnon,she bemoans her relationship with Apollo:

Apollo, Apollo!
God of all ways, but only Death's to me,
Once and again, O thou, Destroyer named,
Thou hast destroyed me, thou, my love of old!

And she acknowledges her fault:

I consented [marriage] to Loxias [Apollo] but broke my word.... Ever since that fault I could persuade no one of anything.^[16]

Latin authorHyginusinFabulaesays:^[17]

Cassandra, daughter of the king and queen, in the temple of Apollo, exhausted from practising, is said to have fallen asleep; whom, when Apollo wished to embrace her, she did not afford the opportunity of her body. On account of which thing, when she prophesied true things, she was not believed.

Louise Bogan,an American poet, writes that another way Cassandra, as well as her twin brother Helenus, had earned their prophetic powers: "she and her brother Helenus were left overnight in the temple of the Thymbraean Apollo. No reason has been advanced for this night in the temple; perhaps it was a ritual routinely performed by everyone. When their parents looked in on them the next morning, the children were entwined with serpents, which flicked their tongues into the children's ears. This enabled Cassandra and Helenus to divine the future."It would not be until Cassandra is much older that Apollo appears in the same temple and tried to seduce Cassandra, who rejects his advances, and curses her by making her prophecies not be believed.^[18]

Her cursed gift from Apollo became an endless pain and frustration to her. She was seen as a liar and a madwoman by her family and by the Trojan people. Because of this, her father, Priam, had locked her away in a chamber and guarded her like the madwoman she was believed to be.^[18]Though Cassandra made many predictions that went unbelieved, the one prophecy that was believed was that of Paris being her abandoned brother.^[19]

Cassandra and the Fall of Troy

Before the fall of Troy

Before the fall of Troy took place, Cassandra foresaw that if Paris went toSpartaand broughtHelenback as his wife, the arrival of Helen would spark the downfall and destruction of Troy during the Trojan War. Despite the prophecy and ignoring Cassandra's warning, Paris still went to Sparta and returned with Helen. While the people of Troy rejoiced, Cassandra, angry with Helen's arrival, furiously snatched away Helen's goldenveiland tore at her hair.^[19]

In Virgil's epic poem, the Aeneid, Cassandra warned the Trojans about the Greeks hiding inside theTrojan Horse,Agamemnon's death, her own demise at the hands ofAegisthusandClytemnestra,her mother Hecuba's fate,Odysseus's ten-year wanderings before returning to his home, and the murder of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra by the latter's childrenElectraandOrestes.Cassandra predicted that her cousinAeneaswould escape during the fall of Troy and found a new nation in Rome.^[20]

During the fall of Troy

CoroebusandOthronuscame to the aid of Troy during the Trojan War out of love for Cassandra and in exchange for her hand in marriage, but both were killed.^[21]According to one account, Priam offered Cassandra toTelephus's sonEurypylus,in order to induce Eurypylus to fight on the side of the Trojans.^[22]Cassandra was also the first to see the body of her brotherHectorbeing brought back to the city.

InThe Fall of Troy,told byQuintus Smyrnaeus,Cassandra attempted to warn the Trojan people that Greek warriors were hiding in the Trojan Horse while they were celebrating their victory over the Greeks with feasting. Disbelieving Cassandra, the Trojans resorted to calling her names and hurling insults at her. Attempting to prove herself right, Cassandra took an axe in one hand and a burning torch in the other, and ran towards the Trojan Horse, intent on destroying the Greeks herself, but the Trojans stopped her. The Greeks hiding inside the Horse were relieved, but alarmed by how clearly she had divined their plan.^[23]

At the fall of Troy, Cassandra sought shelter in the temple ofAthena.There she embraced the wooden statue of Athena in supplication for her protection, but was abducted and brutally raped byAjax the Lesser.Cassandra clung so tightly to the statue of the goddess that Ajax knocked it from its stand as he dragged her away. The actions of Ajax were a sacrilege because Cassandra was a supplicant at the sanctuary, and under the protection of the goddess Athena and Ajax further defiled the temple by raping Cassandra.^[24]

In Apollodorus chapter 6, section 6, Ajax's death comes at the hands of both Athena andPoseidon:"Athena threw a thunderbolt at the ship of Ajax; and when the ship went to pieces he made his way safe to a rock, and declared that he was saved in spite of the intention of Athena. But Poseidon smote the rock with his trident and split it, and Ajax fell into the sea and perished; and his body, being washed up, was buried byThetisinMyconos".^[25]

In some versions, Cassandra intentionally left a chest behind in Troy, with a curse on whichever Greek opened it first.^[26]Inside the chest was an image ofDionysus,made byHephaestusand presented to the Trojans byZeus.It was given to the Greek leaderEurypylusas a part of his share of the victory spoils of Troy. When he opened the chest and saw the image of the god, he went mad.^[26]

The aftermath of Troy and Cassandra's death

Once Troy had fallen, Cassandra was taken as apallake(concubine) byKing AgamemnonofMycenae.While he was away at war, Agamemnon's wife,Clytemnestra,had takenAegisthusas her lover. Cassandra and Agamemnon were later killed by either Clytemnestra or Aegisthus. Various sources state that Cassandra and Agamemnon had twin boys, Teledamus and Pelops, who were murdered by Aegisthus.^[27]

The final resting place of Cassandra is either inAmyclaeorMycenae.Statues of Cassandra exist both in Amyclae and across thePeloponnesepeninsula from Mycenae toLeuctra.In Mycenae, German business man and pioneer archeologistHeinrich Schliemanndiscovered inGrave Circle Athe graves of Cassandra and Agamemnon and telegraphed back to KingGeorge I of Greece:

With great joy I announce to Your Majesty that I have discovered the tombs which the tradition proclaimed by Pausanias indicates to be the graves of Agamemnon, Cassandra, Eurymedon and their companions, all slain at a banquet by Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthos.

However, it was later discovered that the graves predated the Trojan War by at least 300 years.^[28]

Agamemnonby Aeschylus

The playAgamemnonfrom Aeschylus's trilogyOresteiadepicts the king treading the scarlet cloth laid down for him, and walking offstage to his death.^[29]^{: ln. 972}After the chorus's ode of foreboding, time is suspended in Cassandra's "mad scene".^[30]^{: p. 11–16}She has been onstage, silent and ignored. Her madness that is unleashed now is not the physical torment of other characters inGreek tragedy,such as inEuripides'HeraclesorSophocles'Ajax.

According to author Seth Schein, two further familiar descriptions of her madness are that ofHeraclesinThe Women of TrachisorIoinPrometheus Bound.^[30]^{: p. 11}He specifies that her madness is not the type that uses language to descriptive physical agony or other physical symptoms. Instead, she speaks, disconnectedly and transcendent, in the grip of herpsychic possessionby Apollo,^[29]^{: ln. 1140}witnessing past and future events. Schein says, "She evokes the same awe, horror and pity as doschizophrenics".^[30]^{: p. 12}Cassandra is one of those "who often combine deep, true insight with utter helplessness, and who retreat into madness."

Eduard Fraenkelremarked^[30]^{: p. 11, note 6}^[31]on the powerful contrasts between declaimed and sung dialogue in this scene. The frightened and respectful chorus are unable to comprehend her. She goes to her inevitable offstage murder byClytemnestrawith full knowledge of what is to befall her.^[32]^{: pp. 42–55}^[33]^{: pp. 52–58}

Notes

^A snake as a source of knowledge is a recurring theme in Greek mythology, though sometimes the snake brings understanding of the language of animals rather than an ability to know the future. Likewise, prophets without honor in their own country reflect a standard narrative trope.

References

^John Lemprière,Lemprière’s Classical Dictionary, first published 1788, London
^Avery, Catherine B. (1962).New Century Classical Handbook.New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. p. 258.
^Lycophron,Alexandra30;Pausanias,3.19,3.26.
^Wilhelm Schulze,Kleine Schriften(1966), 698, J. B. Hoffmann,Glotta28,52
^Edgar Howard Sturtevant,Class. Phil.21,248ff.
^J. Davreux,La légende de la prophétesse Cassandre(Paris, 1942) 90ff.
^Albert Carnoy,Les ét. class.22,344
^R. S. P. Beekes,Etymological Dictionary of Greek,Brill, 2009, p. 654
^"Online Etymology Dictionary".Online Etymology Dictionary.Archivedfrom the original on 2019-05-01.RetrievedNovember 27,2021.
^Malalas,Chronography5.106
^Dares Phrygius,History of the Fall of Troy12
^"Apollodorus, Library, book 3, chapter 12, section 5".www.perseus.tufts.edu.Retrieved2021-11-10.
^Dillion, Matthew."Kassandra: Mantic, Maenadic or Manic? Gender and the Nature of Prophetic Experience in Ancient Greece".openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au.Archivedfrom the original on 2017-02-05.Retrieved2021-11-27.
^^a ^bTrinacty, Christopher V. (2016)."Catastrophe in Dialogue".Vergilius.62:108.ISSN 0506-7294.JSTOR 90001703.
^Trinacty, Christopher V. (2016)."Catastrophe in Dialogue".Vergilius.62:110–111.ISSN 0506-7294.JSTOR 90001703.
^Aeschylus,Agamemnon1208–1212.
^"Cassandra".Mortal Women of the Trojan War.Stanford University.RetrievedMarch 24,2014.
^^a ^bBogan, Louise."Cassandra in the Classical World".maps-legacy.org.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-11-28.Retrieved2021-11-28.
^^a ^b"Cassandra".Archivedfrom the original on 2007-02-18.RetrievedNovember 27,2021.
^"The Internet Classics Archive | The Aeneid by Virgil".classics.mit.edu.Retrieved2021-11-28.
^"Cassandra in the Classical World".English.illinois.edu. Archived fromthe originalon 2019-05-11.Retrieved2014-03-24.
^Dictys Cretensis4.14 (Frazer, p. 95).
^Smyrnaeus, Quintus."THE FALL OF TROY BOOK 12".www.theoi.com.Archivedfrom the original on 2006-11-20.Retrieved2021-11-28.
^"Cassandra, Ancient Princess of Troy, Priestess and Prophetess".The Role of Women in the Art of Ancient Greece.Retrieved2021-11-28.
^"Apollodorus, Epitome, book E, chapter 6, section 6".www.perseus.tufts.edu.Retrieved2021-11-28.
^^a ^b"Cassandra – Greek Mythology Link".Maicar.com.Retrieved2014-03-24.
^"Pausanias, Description of Greece, Corinth, chapter 16, section 6".www.perseus.tufts.edu.Retrieved2021-11-28.
^Harrington, Spencer P.M. (July–August 1999)."Behind the Mask of Agamemnon".Archaeological Institute of America.52.
^^a ^bAgamemnon(play script) (in Greek).The chorus find her to be "crazed in mind and transported by a god"
^^a ^b ^c ^dSchein, Seth L. (1982). "The Cassandra Scene in Aeschylus' 'Agamemnon'".Greece & Rome.Second Series.29(1): 11–16.doi:10.1017/S0017383500028278.S2CID 162149807.
^Fraenkel, Eduard (1964).Kleine Beiträge zur klassische Philologie(book). Storia e letteratura (in German). Vol. I. Rome.OCLC 644504522.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Bernard KnoxWord and Action: Essays on the Ancient theatre(Baltimore and London: Penguin) 1979
^Anne Lebeck,The Oresteia: A study in language and structure(Washington) 1971

Primary sources

Homer.IliadXXIV, 697–706;OdysseyXI, 405–434;
Aeschylus.Agamemnon
Euripides.The Trojan Women;Electra
BibliothecaIII, xii, 5;EpitomeV, 17–22; VI, 23
Virgil.AeneidII, 246–247, 341–346, 403–408
Lycophron.Alexandra
Triphiodorus:The Sack of Troy
Quintus Smyrnaeus:Posthomerica

External links

[4] A snake as a source of knowledge is a recurring theme in Greek mythology, though sometimes the snake brings understanding of the language of animals rather than an ability to know the future. Likewise, prophets without honor in their own country reflect a standard narrative trope.

[1] John Lemprière,Lemprière’s Classical Dictionary, first published 1788, London

[2] Avery, Catherine B. (1962).New Century Classical Handbook.New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. p. 258.

[3] Lycophron,Alexandra30;Pausanias,3.19,3.26.

[5] Wilhelm Schulze,Kleine Schriften(1966), 698, J. B. Hoffmann,Glotta28,52

[6] Edgar Howard Sturtevant,Class. Phil.21,248ff.

[7] J. Davreux,La légende de la prophétesse Cassandre(Paris, 1942) 90ff.

[8] Albert Carnoy,Les ét. class.22,344

[9] R. S. P. Beekes,Etymological Dictionary of Greek,Brill, 2009, p. 654

[10] "Online Etymology Dictionary".Online Etymology Dictionary.Archivedfrom the original on 2019-05-01.RetrievedNovember 27,2021.

[11] Malalas,Chronography5.106

[12] Dares Phrygius,History of the Fall of Troy12

[13] "Apollodorus, Library, book 3, chapter 12, section 5".www.perseus.tufts.edu.Retrieved2021-11-10.

[14] Dillion, Matthew."Kassandra: Mantic, Maenadic or Manic? Gender and the Nature of Prophetic Experience in Ancient Greece".openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au.Archivedfrom the original on 2017-02-05.Retrieved2021-11-27.

[:0-15] Trinacty, Christopher V. (2016)."Catastrophe in Dialogue".Vergilius.62:108.ISSN 0506-7294.JSTOR 90001703.

[16] Trinacty, Christopher V. (2016)."Catastrophe in Dialogue".Vergilius.62:110–111.ISSN 0506-7294.JSTOR 90001703.

[17] Aeschylus,Agamemnon1208–1212.

[Cassandra_at_Stanford-18] "Cassandra".Mortal Women of the Trojan War.Stanford University.RetrievedMarch 24,2014.

[:02-19] Bogan, Louise."Cassandra in the Classical World".maps-legacy.org.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-11-28.Retrieved2021-11-28.

[Cassandra-20] "Cassandra".Archivedfrom the original on 2007-02-18.RetrievedNovember 27,2021.

[21] "The Internet Classics Archive | The Aeneid by Virgil".classics.mit.edu.Retrieved2021-11-28.

[illinois1-22] "Cassandra in the Classical World".English.illinois.edu. Archived fromthe originalon 2019-05-11.Retrieved2014-03-24.

[23] Dictys Cretensis4.14 (Frazer, p. 95).

[24] Smyrnaeus, Quintus."THE FALL OF TROY BOOK 12".www.theoi.com.Archivedfrom the original on 2006-11-20.Retrieved2021-11-28.

[25] "Cassandra, Ancient Princess of Troy, Priestess and Prophetess".The Role of Women in the Art of Ancient Greece.Retrieved2021-11-28.

[26] "Apollodorus, Epitome, book E, chapter 6, section 6".www.perseus.tufts.edu.Retrieved2021-11-28.

[maicar1-27] "Cassandra – Greek Mythology Link".Maicar.com.Retrieved2014-03-24.

[28] "Pausanias, Description of Greece, Corinth, chapter 16, section 6".www.perseus.tufts.edu.Retrieved2021-11-28.

[29] Harrington, Spencer P.M. (July–August 1999)."Behind the Mask of Agamemnon".Archaeological Institute of America.52.

[Agamemnon-30] Agamemnon(play script) (in Greek).The chorus find her to be "crazed in mind and transported by a god"

[The_Cassandra_Scene_in_Aeschylus'_'Agamemnon'-31] Schein, Seth L. (1982). "The Cassandra Scene in Aeschylus' 'Agamemnon'".Greece & Rome.Second Series.29(1): 11–16.doi:10.1017/S0017383500028278.S2CID 162149807.

[Kleine_Beiträge_zur_klassische_Philologie-32] Fraenkel, Eduard (1964).Kleine Beiträge zur klassische Philologie(book). Storia e letteratura (in German). Vol. I. Rome.OCLC 644504522.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[33] Bernard KnoxWord and Action: Essays on the Ancient theatre(Baltimore and London: Penguin) 1979

[34] Anne Lebeck,The Oresteia: A study in language and structure(Washington) 1971

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v t e Characters in theIliad
Achaeans	Acamas Achilles Agamemnon(king of Mycenae) Agapenor Ajax the Greater(king of Salamis) Ajax the Lesser Alcimus Anticlus Antilochus Arcesilaus Ascalaphus Automedon Balius and Xanthus Bias Calchas(prophet) Diomedes(king of Argos) Elephenor Epeius Eudoros Euryalus Eurybates Eurydamas Eurypylus Guneus Helen(queen of Sparta) Ialmenus Idomeneus(king of Crete) Iphigenia(princess of Mycenae) Leitus Leonteus Lycomedes Machaon Medon Meges Menelaus(king of Sparta) Menestheus Meriones Neoptolemus Nestor(king of Pylos) Nireus Odysseus(king of Ithaca) Palamedes Patroclus Peneleos Philoctetes Phoenix Podalirius Podarces Polites Polypoetes Promachus Protesilaus Prothoenor Schedius Sinon Stentor Sthenelus Talthybius Teucer Thersites Thoas Thrasymedes Tlepolemus
Trojans	Aeneas(royal demigod) Aesepus Agenor Alcathous Amphimachus Anchises Andromache Antenor(king's brother-in-law) Antiphates Antiphus Archelochus Asius Asteropaios Astyanax Atymnius Axylus Briseis Calesius Caletor Cassandra(princess of Troy) Chryseis Chryses(priest of Apollo) Clytius Coön Dares Phrygius Deiphobus(prince of Troy) Dolon Epistrophus Euphemus Euphorbus Glaucus Gorgythion Hector(prince of Troy) Hecuba(queen of Troy) Helenus Hyperenor Hypsenor Iamenus Ilioneus Imbrius Iphidamas Kebriones Laocoön Lycaon(prince of Troy) Melanippus Memnon(King of Ethiopia) Mentes Mydon Mygdon of Phrygia Othryoneus Pandarus Panthous Paris(prince of Troy) Pedasus Peirous Penthesilea(Queen of the Amazons) Phorcys Podes Polites Polydamas Polybus Polydorus(prince of Troy) Polyxena(princess of Troy) Priam(king of Troy) Pylaemenes Pylaeus Pyraechmes Rhesus of Thrace Sarpedon(king of Lycia) Scamandrius Theano Ucalegon
Gods	Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Dionysus Eris Hades Helios Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hypnos Iris Leto Poseidon Scamander Thanatos Thetis Zeus

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