51: Cassandra: The Curse of the Truth

This week we are diving into the mythology of the mortal, Cassandra. Cassandra is a prominent figure in Greek mythology, known as a Trojan princess and prophetess whose tragic story centers on her gift of foresight, paired with a devastating curse. As the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy, Cassandra was granted the power of prophecy by the god Apollo, who hoped to win her affection. When she rejected him, Apollo cursed her so that, although her predictions would be unfailingly accurate, no one would ever believe them. This cruel twist of fate defined her role during the Trojan War, as she warned of the fall of Troy, the death of her brother Hector, and the Greek deception of the wooden horse. Her prophetic insights, however, were dismissed by her family and peers, branding her as mad and leaving her powerless to prevent the city’s destruction.

After Troy’s fall, Cassandra was taken as a war prize by Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces, and brought to Mycenae. There, she foresaw her own murder alongside Agamemnon at the hands of his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover Aegisthus. True to the pattern of her life, her warnings went unheeded, and she met her death as she had predicted. Cassandra’s story is preserved in a range of classical sources, including Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, where she is mentioned as one of Priam’s daughters. However, it is in the tragic plays of Aeschylus and Euripides that her voice and character are most vividly portrayed. In Aeschylus’s Agamemnon, Cassandra delivers a harrowing prophecy before her death, while in Euripides’s The Trojan Women, she appears as both visionary and victim, embracing her fate with grim defiance.

Cassandra’s myth has continued to resonate through Roman literature, such as in Virgil’s Aeneid, and into modern times. She has been reimagined in works like Christa Wolf’s Cassandra and referenced in psychological discourse through the concept of the “Cassandra complex,” describing individuals whose warnings go ignored despite being accurate. More than a tragic figure, Cassandra symbolizes the silencing of truth, the marginalization of women’s voices, and the emotional burden of knowledge without power. Her story remains a powerful commentary on the consequences of disbelief, the fragility of truth in the face of denial, and the enduring strength of those who speak out, even when no one listens.

Enjoy the episode!