The Myth Behind the Lore

Written 2004

Was there a Cassandra of Troy, a preistess and a prophetess? I can't say for certain (though I do believe there was), but I doubt anyone can. This article merely begins to address what, if anything, is the true history of this lady.

There are few who have not heard of the Fall of Troy, of the Trojan Horse, of warriors like Achilles and women like Helen of Sparta. Yet, as with every good story, there are numerous sub-plots that are interesting themselves. These 'smaller' stories have over the years faded past the recall of many, and there are few who would wish to revive them.

One of these stories is that of Cassandra (or Alexandra), daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. Though she is not mentioned in Homer's The Iliad save as Priam's most beautiful daughter, there are other accounts of this priestess and prophetess of Troy.

Whether the accounts of this lady are true or false, in part or in whole, I have attempted to collect the most information obtainable to draw up a sketch of who Cassandra was, and what happened to her following the fall of Troy.

Cassandra (or Kassandra), whose name is Greek for 'she who entangles men', was the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. She was the twin sister of Paris of Troy (though some have said her twin was a brother named Helenus), and a priestess of the Greek Apollo (the god of the sun). She prophesied the fall of Troy, but was not believed until it was to late if then.

During the actual fall of Troy Cassandra sought refuge in the Temple of the Maiden (Athena), and according to some texts (not all) was raped by the lesser Ajax. She was then given as a war prize to Agamemnon, and is said to have perished with Agamemnon at the hand of Clytemnestra (Agamemnon's wife) and her lover Aegisthus.

When it comes to the origin of much of this, it becomes apparent that many of the 'facts' accepted today have only evolved from the original story, and they are by not necessarily the truth.

The story of the rape of Cassandra finds it's origin in The Sack of Ilium, by Arctinus of Miletus (c. 776 B.C.). In which she is not raped, by taken by force from the Temple of Athena by the lesser Ajax. In the process of taking her Ajax manages to also tear away the statue of Athena that Cassandra had been clinging to. Arctinus' tale reads:

'Aias the son of Ileus, while trying to drag Cassandra away by force, tears away with her the image of Athene. At this the Greeks are so enraged that they determine to stone Aias, who only escapes from the danger threatening him by taking refuge at the altar of Athene.'

Though I myself am not to fond of some of the alterations of the story of Troy in Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Firebrand, in the postscript she mentions a tablet from the Archeological Museum of Athens which provides some hint that the lady Cassandra may have survived. The tablet reads as follows:

"Zeus of Dodona, give heed to this gift
I send you from me and my family-
Agathon son of Ekhephylos,
the Zakynthian family,
consuls of the Molossians and their allies,
descended for 30 generations
from Kassandra of Troy."

Sources

Bradley, Marion Zimmer. "The Firebrand". New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987.
www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/
papers/fittoncassandra/
www.calliope.free-online.co.uk/troy/troy7.htm
www.stanford.edu/~plomio/
www.pantheon.org/articles/c/cassandra.html