Cassandra: Greek Goddess Who Foretold Cursed Prophecies

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - In Greek mythology, Cassandra was the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. She was the most beautiful of Priam's daughters and an inspired prophetess.

Pythia at Delphi, the Sibyls, and even an unfortunate Trojan princess, Cassandra, were regarded as 'brides of the god.'

Cassandra in front of city of Troy. Image credit:  E. De Morgan (1898, London) - Public Domain

Apollo's love for Cassandra was so strong that he decided to give her the gift of prophecy, which she wanted to possess so much. With this power, Cassandra could foretell what would happen in the future. In return, he was promised to get her sexual favors, but Cassandra decided to refuse his advances.

She broke her promises, which made Apollo very angry. Unfortunately, he could not take back his gift because divine powers, once granted, might not be revoked. The only thing Apollo could do was make Cassandra's gift without account, so no one ever believed her.

It was god Apollo's only revenge for what she had done to him. Now, Cassandra was cursed by him, and so were her prophecies.

Even when Cassandra stands before the palace in Argos, foretelling her imminent death and that of Agamemnon, no one believes her. The chorus of elders claims they cannot or must not believe her. (Aeschylus' Agamemnon (1072-1330).

Homer's Iliad mentions or alludes to many Greek legends and myths. In the famous epic, Cassandra predicted many tragic events of the Trojan War, a legendary conflict between the early Greeks and the people of Troy in western Anatolia, dated by later Greek authors to the 12th or 13th century BC.

One is related to Priam's son Paris who planned a trip to Sparta. Cassandra warned against this trip, but her warnings were ignored. Each time she told the Trojans what would happen, they would never listen to her warnings.

Woodcut illustration of Cassandra's prophecy of the fall of Troy (at left) and her death (at right), from an incunable German translation by Heinrich Steinhöwel of Giovanni Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris, printed by Johann Zainer (de) at Ulm ca. 1474. Image: kladcat - CC BY 2.0

Paris traveled to Sparta, where he kidnapped Helen. In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy, also known as Helen of Sparta, was the daughter of Zeus. The abduction of Helen by Paris, Prince of Troy, started the Trojan War with Greece.

Another Cassandra's prediction was also a serious warning. The prophetess predicted Troy's defeat and warned the Trojans not to accept the Greek gift of the Trojan horse, but her prophecy was ignored. Greek troops hid inside the Trojan Horse, which suddenly appeared and captured the city of Troy.

After the Greek victory, Cassandra was given a prize by the Greek leader Agamemnon, the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae. Later, she returned to Greece with him and their twin boys, Teledamus and Pelops.

However, she also had yet another prediction in her mind. She predicted a terrible fate awaited her and Agamemnon. And so it happened, when they reached Agamemnon's home in Mycenae, they were both killed by Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus. Also, their children were killed.

Cassandra was sent to the Elysian Fields after her death because her soul was judged worthy due to her dedication to the gods and her piety during her life.

Cassandra's burial place was believed to be located at Amyclae or Mycenae. The two towns disputed the possession of the prophetess' grave. Heinrich Schliemann, a German archaeologist, considered the modern discoverer of prehistoric Greece, was confident that he found Cassandra's tomb during his excavations at Mycenae. Schliemann found the remains of a woman and two infants in one of the circle's graves at the site.

Written by  - A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer

Updated on March 15, 2024

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