The Story of Cassandra

In Greek mythology, Cassandra was one of the princesses of Troy, daughter of Priam and Hecuba. According to the Myth, Cassandra was astonishingly beautiful and blessed with the gift of foreseeing the future. Her curse was that no one believed her, a fact that weighed heavily on the destruction of Troy during the Trojan War.

The Myth Of Cassandra

kassandra-1There are several different versions explaining the gift and curse of Cassandra; the most popular one is the god Apollo fell in love with her and granted her the gift of prophecy. When Cassandra denied the God and his advances, he placed a curse on her, so no one would believe her words or her predictions. Thus, he gave her a gift that would bring her frustration and despair.


In the tragedy Agamemnon, Cassandra appears to suggest to the God she become his consort, then breaks her promise, causing his wrath. Thus, Apollo leaves her with the gift of prophecy yet curses her so no one could or would believe her.

According to this second version, Cassandra goes to the Temple of Apollo in Troy, where his little Temple Snakes lick her ears, allowing her to listen to the future. This theme is not unknown in Greek Mythology, as the snakes of Apollo appea in different myths and versions, allowing people to foresee the future and understand the language of non-human animals.

Cassandra And Troy

Cassandra foresaw the destruction of Troy by the Greeks; when the Trojans find the big wooden horse outside the gates of their city, Cassandra tells them the Greeks will destroy them if they bring the horse into the city. The historical facts are not clear, but the famous phrase “Beware of Danaos (Greeks) bearing gifts” is attributed to  her.

There are different versions about this phrase as well, as it is stated by different persons in the tragedy “Ajax,” and Virgil’s “Aeneid.” In any case, no one in Troy believes her, the horse admitted into the city, and we all know the results for Troy.

When Troy fell to the Greeks, Cassandra tried to find a shelter in Athena’s Temple, but she was brutally abducted by Ajax and was brought to Agamemnon as a concubine. Cassandra died in Mycenae, murdered along with Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus.


The Cassandra Syndrome

Based on the myth of Cassandra there is a modern syndrome and metaphor recognized by experts; the Cassandra syndrome or complex, which is applied in cases of valid alarms which are disbelieved. The syndrome applies mostly in psychology and politics or science, and it was named by the French Philosopher Gaston Bachelard in 1949.

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