Old page wikitext, before the edit (old_wikitext) | '{{alternateuses}}
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Cassandra''' ({{lang-el|Κασσάνδρα}}, "she who entangles men"<ref>This is [[Robert Graves]]' etymology.</ref>; also known as '''Alexandra'''<ref>See [[Lycophron]]'s poem ''Alexandra'', which was about Cassandra.</ref>) was the daughter of King [[Priam]] and Queen [[Hecuba]] of [[Troy]]. Her beauty caused [[Apollo]] to grant her the gift of [[prophecy]]. However, when she did not return his love, Apollo placed a curse on her so that no one would ever believe her predictions.
== History ==
[[Image:Solomon Ajax and Cassandra.jpg|thumb|left|''Ajax and Cassandra'' by [[Solomon Joseph Solomon]], 1886.]]
In an alternative version, she spent a night at Apollo's temple, at which time the temple snakes licked her ears clean so that she was able to hear the future. This is a recurring theme in Greek mythology, though sometimes it brings an ability to understand the language of animals rather than an ability to know the future.<ref>Compare [[Melampus]]; Athena cleaned the ears of [[Tiresias]]</ref>
Apollo loved Cassandra, and when she did not return his love, he cursed her so that her gift would become a source of endless pain and frustration. In some versions of the myth, this is symbolized by the god spitting into her mouth; in other Greek versions, this act was sufficient to remove the gift so recently given by Apollo, but Cassandra's case varies. From the play ''[[The Oresteia|Agamemnon]]'', it appears that she made a promise to Apollo to become his consort, but broke it, thus incurring his wrath: though she retained the power of foresight, no one would believe her predictions.
[[Telephus]], the son of Heracles, loved Cassandra but she scorned him and instead helped him seduce her sister [[Laodice]].
While Cassandra foresaw the destruction of Troy (she warned the Trojans about the [[Trojan Horse]], the death of [[Agamemnon]], and her own demise), she was unable to do anything to forestall these tragedies since they did not believe her. <!--Her family believed she was mad, and according to some versions, kept her locked up. In versions where she was [[incarcerate]]d, this was typically portrayed as driving her truly insane, although in versions where she was not, she is usually viewed as remaining simply misunderstood: not in Classical sources: move to relevant modern variants if you like-->
[[Coroebus]] and [[Othronus]] came to the aid of Troy out of love for Cassandra. Cassandra was also the first to see the body of her brother [[Hector]] being brought back to the city.
At the fall of Troy, she sought shelter in the temple of [[Athena]], where she was violently abducted and raped by [[Ajax the Lesser]]. Cassandra was then taken as a [[concubine]] by King [[Agamemnon]] of [[Mycenae]]. Unbeknownst to Agamemnon, while he was away at war, his wife, [[Clytemnestra]], had begun an affair with [[Aegisthus]]. <!--Upon Agamemnon and Cassandra's arrival in Mycenae, Clytemnestra asked her husband to walk across a [[purple]] (some versions say red) tapestry, a sign of [[hubris]]. He initially refused, fearing the wrath of the gods, but gave in, ignoring Cassandra's warnings. By walking on the tapestries, he was committing sacrilege.--> Clytemnestra and Aegisthus then murdered both Agamemnon and Cassandra. Some sources mention that Cassandra and Agamemnon had twin boys, Teledamus and Pelops, both of whom were killed by Aegisthus.
[[Homer]]. ''[[Iliad]]'' XXIV, 697-706; [[Homer]]. ''[[Odyssey]]'' XI, 405-434; [[Aeschylus]]. ''[[Agamemnon]]''; ''[[Euripides]]''. ''[[Trojan Women]]''; ''[[Euripides]]''. ''[[Electra]]''; [[Apollodorus]]. ''[[Bibliotheke]]'' III, xii, 5; [[Apollodorus]]. ''[[Epitome]]'' V, 17-22; VI, 23; [[Virgil]]. ''[[Aeneid]]'' II, 246ff; [[Lycophron]]. ''[[Alexandra]]''
== Modern adaptations ==
[[Image:Cassandra1.jpeg|thumb|Painting by [[Evelyn De Morgan]].]]
A modern psychological perspective on Cassandra is presented by [[Eric Shanower]] in ''[[Age of Bronze (comics)|Age of Bronze: Sacrifice]]''. In this version, Cassandra, as a child, is [[Child molestation|molested]] by a man pretending to be a god.
A similar situation occurred in [[Lindsay Clarke]]'s novel ''The Return from Troy'' (presented as a reawakened memory), where a priest of Apollo forced himself upon Cassandra and was stopped only when she spat in his mouth. When the priest used his benevolent reputation to convince Priam that he was innocent of her wild claims, Cassandra subsequently went insane.
The myth of Cassandra is also retold by German author [[Christa Wolf]] in ''Kassandra''. She retells the story from the point of view of Cassandra at the moment of her death and uses the myth as an allegory for both the unheard voice of the woman writer and the oppression and strict censorship laws of [[East Germany]].
[[Image:Aias Kassandra Louvre G458.jpg|thumb|left|280px|Ajax taking Cassandra, tondo of a [[red-figure]] [[kylix]] by the [[Kodros Painter]], ca. 440-430 BC, [[Louvre]]]]
Author [[William Faulkner]], in his novel ''[[Absalom, Absalom!]]'', writes of Rosa Coldfield, a principal character in the Sutpen Dynasty/Tragedy, and how her "childhood ... consisted of a Cassandra-like listening beyond closed doors", alluding to both mythological concerns that (1) Cassandra was locked away, or behind closed doors (as with Rosa's youth), and (2) that Cassandra's prophecies were true, yet fated to be ignored (as with Rosa's premonitions about Thomas Sutpen and his desire to forge a dynasty).
The author [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]] wrote a historical novel called ''Firebrand'', which presents a story from Cassandra's point of view.
Marcus Sedgwick's novel ''The Foreshadowing'' features a [[protagonist]] named Alexandra who has the gift of foresight, though she sees mainly others' pain and death.
In Clemence McLearn's ''Inside the Walls of Troy'', Cassandra has a strong friendship with Queen Helen of Sparta when she came to Troy with Prince Paris. Cassandra essentially hates Helen but gives in to her unbearable joy and happiness and becomes Helen's "confidante". At the end of the story instead of Cassandra being raped and taken as Agamemnon's "battle prize", she simply joins her two sisters, Polyxena and Laodice, at the temple of Athena. The rest of her story is left untold.
In [[David Gemmell]]'s Troy trilogy, Cassandra is credited with opening the mind of exiled Egyptian prince Gershom (Moses) to his own gift of prophecy. Cassandra got her gift after suffering from 'brain fever' as a young child, and dies in the volcanic eruption of [[Thera]].
In the section ''Cassandra'' of ''Suggestions for Thought to Searchers after Religious Truth'', [[Florence Nightingale]] protests the over-feminization of women into near helplessness, such as what Nightingale saw in her mother's and older sister's lethargic lifestyle despite their education. The work also reflects her fear of her ideas being ineffective, as were Cassandra's.
In ''[[Hercules: The Animated Series]]'' (presented by Disney), [[Hercules]] befriends [[Icarus]] and Cassandra at his local high school.
Cassandra is also noticed in an acclaimed novel that was originally a comic book written by [[Greg Rucka]]: ''[[Batman: No Man's Land]]''. In the book she is known as "the future" of weapons.
Other alternate meanings of 'Cassandra' are:
1. seductress of man
2. Queen of intercourse
3. Doomsayer (one who brings news of terrible future events)
Cassandra was also said to be even more desirable than Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love, who envied Cassandra.
== Modern usage ==
In more modern literature, Cassandra has often served as a model for [[tragedy]] and [[romance (genre)|Romance]], and has given rise to the archetypal character of someone whose prophetic insight is obscured by insanity, turning their revelations into riddles or disjointed statements that are not fully comprehended until after the fact. Notable examples are the character of [[River Tam]] from the [[science fiction]] TV series ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'', the character Cassandra in the TV series ''[[The X-Files]]'' (an alien abductee that nobody took seriously), and the science fiction short story "[[Cassandra (story)|Cassandra]]" by [[C. J. Cherryh]].
"[[Cassandra (Red Dwarf episode)|Cassandra]]" is the title of an episode of the British sci-fi comedy series ''[[Red Dwarf]]''. In it a futuristic computer, Cassandra, is discovered to have the ability to predict the future. She foretells a number of conversations and events that come true, save for one scene where one character kills another in a jealous rage. It emerges this is a lie to try to punish the killer for his responsibility for her own later death, which Cassandra correctly predicts he accidentally causes. The story in the episode deviates somewhat from myth in that she is not universally disbelieved. The theme of the futility of trying to change the future is explored at several points in the episode.
[[Image:SyrgixTheCassandraSyndromeCover.JPG|thumb|left|Syrigx's demo EP cover "The Cassandra Syndrome"]]
The title of the 1977 film ''[[The Cassandra Crossing]]'' refers to a fictional, unstable bridge in Europe named after Cassandra, with a group of quarantined passengers en route to the bridge against their will.
In both the novel "Rumble Fish" by S.E. Hinton and the 1983 film by the same title directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Cassandra is mentioned. The character Cassandra tells Rusty-James that she isn't hooked on heroin and will stop using it though she had been using for a short time. Like the mythological character, nobody believes her. Rusty-James asks his brother if he believes that she will get clean. His brother says "You have to believe Cassandra." When he inquires as to what will happen to people who don't believe her, their father says, "The Greeks will get them." This is a direct reference to the Greek Mythology. In the end Cassandra does stop using heroin and goes back to her job as a substitute teacher. Cassandra in "Rumble Fish" is modeled after the mythological Cassandra in that she predicts the future, is not believed, yet her prediction comes true.
In the film ''[[The Scorpion King]]'', Cassandra is a sorceress who can read the future and is key to the antagonist king's (Memnon) battle victories. Memnon is in love with her, but she eventually leaves him for [[Mathayus]], the protagonist. At first, she claims to lose her foreseeing abilities when sleeping with a man, but it is later revealed, after an intimate night with Mathayus and pretending to lose her abilities, that this was merely pretense to prevent Memnon from taking advantage of her. Cassandra is played by [[Kelly Hu]].
In "[[Help (Buffy episode)|Help]]," an episode of the television show ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', a young girl named Cassandra "Cassie" Newton foresees her own death despite the attempts of the show's protagonist, [[Buffy Summers]], to prevent it. She also foresees what will happen in Buffy's final battle with one of the show's antagonists, [[First Evil|The First]], and its army.
In the episode "Hourglass" of the [[sci-fi]] series ''[[Smallville (TV series)|Smallville]]'', the plot revolves around an old people's home where one of the residents who was blinded on the day of the meteor shower, Cassandra Carver, can apparently see the future. She also makes reference to the story of Troy when mentioning to [[Lex Luthor]], who had brought her a bunch of flowers, that "It was the Greeks who also brought gifts." The resident also sees Lex's future and his ascendancy to the US Presidency.
The [[Cassandra syndrome]] is a fictional condition that describes someone who believes they can see the future but cannot do anything about it. Comic writer [[Chris Claremont]] used this syndrome as the motivation for the villainous actions of mutant terrorists Mystique and Destiny, the latter being a blind precognitive, whose attempts to prevent the destruction of the mutant race at the hands of humanity often lead to further anti-mutant hysteria.
The term also denotes people who get either good advice on a subject or a warning of impending disaster, but fail to heed or even acknowledge it because of its source, or the prejudices of the recipient of the warning. Occasionally people who pretend to psychic abilities invoke Cassandra to disparage skepticism.
In [[Wes Craven]] and [[Kevin Williamson (screenwriter)|Kevin Williamson]]'s ''[[Scream 2]],'' Sidney Prescott, the main character played by [[Neve Campbell]], is a mirror of Cassandra in the sense that she is cursed by forever being susceptible to murder, conspiracy, and being alone, and actually appears in a play within the film titled "Cassandra", where she also plays the lead. During the rest of the trilogy, she has made clear that if it weren't for her, the plot of the movies, and for Sidney, the events in her life, would have never happened, and that continually surviving attacks has made the ones closest to her even more vulnerable to the characteristics that plague her life. Sidney is also seen speaking the line, "You know, I saw it all coming. I knew it wasn't over", referring to the murders in ''Scream 2.'' This is a prophecy revealed, a play on the curse that plagued Cassandra.
[[Norway|Norwegian]] gothic metal pioneers [[Theatre of Tragedy]] wrote a song about Cassandra on their 1998 album ''[[Aégis]]''.
German [[power metal]] group [[Blind Guardian]] featured two songs about Cassandra and the [[Trojan War]] on their 2002 album ''[[A Night at the Opera (Blind Guardian album)|A Night at the Opera]]'', "Under the Ice" and "[[And Then There Was Silence]]", the latter of which was the title track of the 2001 "warmup" single for the album.
[[Fear Before the March of Flames]] released a song on the album ''[[The Always Open Mouth]]'' titled "Taking Cassandra to the End of the World Party".
The musical group [[ABBA]] released a song titled "[[Cassandra (song)|Cassandra]]" as a [[B-side]] to the single, "[[The Day Before You Came]]" at the very end of their time as an active group. [[Anni-Frid Lyngstad]] has the lead vocal and sings about Cassandra's departure from a town after some unnamed disasters have occurred and her own regret about not believing Cassandra's warnings. The song has been included in subsequent compilation CD releases.
In [[Woody Allen]]'s ''[[Mighty Aphrodite]]'', which features several appearances by classical Greek figures, Cassandra appears warning Allen's character not to move to the countryside. As usual, she is not listened to. She makes a later appearances, delivering the following line: "I see disaster. I see catastrophe. Worse, I see lawyers!" She is played by [[Danielle Ferland]]. In his 2007 movie ''[[Cassandra's Dream]]'' the main characters' boat is called "Cassandra's Dream". During the movie many characters have bad dreams. The final sequence is on board the boat.
The [[Melbourne, Australia|Melbourne]] band [[Something for Kate]] released the song 'Cassandra Walks The Plank" as a B-side on their single "California" from 2007. Vocalist and guitarist [[Paul Dempsey]] later describes the song as a 'Straightforward angry rant' about warning signs in the modern world on their iTunes Originals release.
David Murray Black also released a song called "Prophet of Doom" in his CD ''Sacred Ground'' about Cassandra.
[[The Crüxshadows]] sing a song about Cassandra on their 2003 album ''[[Ethernaut]]'' on their song "Cassandra".
The show ''[[Hercules: The Animated Series]]'' depicts Cassandra (voiced by [[Sandra Bernhard]]) as a rather goth teenager who has visions of awful things and is loved by [[Icarus]].
American progressive metal group [[Dream Theater]] refer to Cassandra fleetingly in a song called "Voices" in which they mock the prophetic message of modern day religion.
The plight of Cassandra was a recurring motif in the 1995 film ''[[Twelve Monkeys]]''.
The character Cassandra Kirschbaum in the 2004 MGM film ''[[Saved!]]'' is likely named after the Greek Cassandra. Cassandra Kirschbaum is the only Jewish student at the Evangelical Christian high school that serves as the film's setting. Her character fills the role of "truth-teller" at the school, exposing other characters' hypocrisy. Cassandra Kirschbaum also appears in the Off-Broadway musical based on the film.
Dr. Bocker, in [[John Wyndham]]'s ''[[The Kraken Wakes]]'' mentions Cassandra fleetingly in "Phase 2", referring to the aspect of one who predicts the future but goes unheeded, with dire consequences. The quote can be found on page 107 of the 1973 publishing by [http://www.penguin.com Penguin Books].<ref name=TheKrakenWakes> {{cite book
| last = Wyndham
| first = John
| authorlink = John Wyndham
| coauthors =
| title = [[The Kraken Wakes]]
| year = 1134
| publisher = [[Penguin Books]]
| location = Spain
| language = Spanish
| isbn = 978-0-140-01075-6
}}</ref>
In the upcoming movie ''[[2012 (film)|2012]]'', the character played by [[Woody Harrelson]] is a man who prophesies the end of the world and is considered crazy by others. Harrelson compared his character to the mythological Greek figure Cassandra, whose predictions were dismissed.<ref>{{cite news | first=Shawn | last=Adler | url=http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/07/14/exclusive-woody-harrelson-joins-roland-emmerichs-world-ending-2012/ | title=EXCLUSIVE: Woody Harrelson Joins Roland Emmerich’s World-Ending ‘2012’ | work=MTV Movies Blog | publisher=[[MTV]] | date=July 14, 2008 | accessdate=July 14, 2008 }}</ref>
In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' by Jim Butcher, a condition called "Cassandra's Tears" gives its victims the gift of foresight, but afflicts them with epilepsy-like symptoms, which often cause their foretellings to be dismissed as hallucinations.
The song "Helen and Cassandra" by [[Al Stewart]] includes a fairly straightforward reference to the mythological Cassandra.
The manga unCassandra from the [[Monthly Shōnen Rival]] is named after Cassandra, and features her as a prominent character near the end.
[[Rachel Maddow]] called Senator [[Bernie Sanders]] "the Cassandra of [[Troubled Assets Relief Program|TARP]]" on her MSNBC show on February 3, 2009.<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29013587/</ref>
The 2009 film [[Knowing (film)|Knowing]] is a modern day twist of Cassandra with a man who finds a time capsule with predictions, some that have already occurred, and others that are about to.
In the [[Harry Potter]] series of books, Professor Trelawney, the occasionally accurate divination teacher at [[Hogwarts]], claims that she is the great granddaughter of the 'esteemed seer' Cassandra Trelawney.
A Greek character named [[List of characters in the Soul series#Cassandra|Cassandra Alexandra]] (possibly after both of Cassandra's names) is playable in the ''[[Soul (series)|Soul]]'' series of video games, and like her sister [[Sophitia]], has a story involving the Greek gods.
In series five of the UK version of ''[[The Apprentice (UK TV series)|The Apprentice]]'', [[Margaret Mountford]] referred to contestant Lorraine Tighe as the "Cassandra", based on the fact that she was regularly correct in her assertions but no one from her team listened to her.
===Problems===
Negativity is often attached to Cassandra and her many ideas; her goodness and virtue are not examined as readily as the veracity of her predictions. By means of this 'Cassandra Effect' (see below), we fail to understand her hardship; the reality of her visions, and the partial helplessness she suffers as the result of her curse.
===The Cassandra effect===
The Cassandra effect describes a person who somehow foresees a catastrophic event but believes they can do nothing to stop the event, and that nobody will believe them if they tell others. For example, in finance, the more someone warns colleagues about tail risks—rare but devastating events that can bring down a bank—the more they roll their eyes and change the subject. This eventually leads to [[self-censorship]].<ref>[http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12957761 Playing financial chicken], ''The Economist'', Jan 22nd 2009</ref>
== See Also ==
*[[Cassandra (metaphor)]]
*[[Apollo]]
*[[Apollo archetype]]
*[[Novikov Self-Consistency Principle]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== Further reading ==
* Clarke, Lindsay. ''The Return from Troy.'' HarperCollins (2005). ISBN 0-00-715027-X.
* Marion Zimmer Bradley. ''The Firebrand.'' ISBN 0-451-45924-5
* Patacsil, Par. ''Cassandra.'' In ''The Likhaan Book of Plays 1997-2003''. Villanueva and Nadera, eds. University of the Philippines Press (2006). ISBN 971-542-507-0
* Schapira, Laurie L. [http://www.innercitybooks.net/book.php?id=36 The Cassandra Complex: Living with Disbelief: A Modern Perspective on Hysteria.] Toronto: [http://www.innercitybooks.net/index.html Inner City Books] (1988). ISBN 0-919123-35-X. (This work is mentioned in the [[Cassandra (metaphor)|Cassandra (Metaphor)]] page in the Wiki.)
== Primary sources ==
{{Commonscat|Cassandra}}
*Virgil, ''Aeneid'' II.246-247, 341-346, 403-408
*[http://www.theoi.com Theoi Project: Cassandra, classical sources in English translation]
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