Cassandra

The prophetess Cassandra (kuh-san-drah), also known as Alexandra, was a Trojan princess. The daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy, she was also reknowned as the second most beautiful woman in the world at the time, Helen being the foremost. She made many correct prophecies, such as the downfall of Troy because of Paris' abduction of Helen, but she was never believed and her visions were disregarded and ignored. "Where are you going? You will bring conflagration back with you. How great the flames are that you are seeking over these waters, you do not know." (Cassandra to Paris. Ovid, Heroides 16,120) There are two versions to how she recieved her prophetic powers. In the first, she was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo after agreeing to lie with him. She then later rejected his lustful advances so he added a curse, making it so her prophecies would never be believed. The second version states that as small children, Cassandra and her twin brother Helenus fell asleep in the temple of Apollo after a feast in honor of their birthdays. When Hecuba came looking for them, she found temple serpents (considered sacred to Apollo and symbols of prophecy and wisdom) on them that were biting their 'organs of sense', meaning the brain. Helenus was later mentioned to possess the same gift of prophecy as Cassandra, even backing her prophecies with his own, but he did not have the curse she did. Shortly after her fiancee, Coroebus, was killed while defending her during the ill-fated battle after the Trojan horse incident, she sought refuge from the Greeks in the temple of Athena, but was captured when she was found clinging to the statue of Athena by the Locrian named Ajax and dragged out by the hair. It is said she was also raped by him, and that the statue of Athena gave a loud noise that shook the temple floor because Ajax had violated the sanctity of the temple. His descendants were punished for 1000 years after this incident to repay his great sin. Later, Cassandra was claimed as a prize of war by Agamemnon, and became his slave and concubine. He sailed home with her to Mycenae, where his lawful wife Clytemnestra lay in wait with her secret lover Aegisthus. When they were welcomed home, Cassandra hesitated outside, where she uttered these words: "... for me waits destruction by the two-edged sword." Cassandra. Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1149 Shortly after, Agamemnon was murdered by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, and Cassandra and the twin sons she supposedly bore to him were slain as well. The name Cassandra came from the Greek Êáóóáíäñá (Kassandra), which meant "shining upon man", derived from êåêáóìáé (kekasmai) "to shine" and áíçñ (aner) "man". Other, more modern meanings have been assigned to the name, often negative and misguided. Those incorrect assumptions include 'Prophetess of Doom', 'Unbelieveable Truth', 'Deciever of Men', and many others. To call someone a Cassandra means their words, however correct the might be, are being ignored or overlooked, often to the detriment of those not paying heed.