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Cassandra was a pseudonym of William Conner, long standing British
journalist
Painting by Evelyn De Morgan
In Greek mythology, Cassandra ("she who entangles
men") (also known as Alexandra) was a daughter of King Priam of Troy and his queen Hecuba, who captured the eye of
Apollo and so was given the ability to see the future. However, when
she did not return his love, he placed a curse on her so that no one would ever believe her predictions. Thus Cassandra foresees
the destruction of Troy (she warns the Trojans about the Trojan Horse, the
death of Agamemnon, and her own demise), but is unable to do anything about them.
Coroebus and Othronus came to the aid
of Troy out of love for Cassandra.
After the Trojan War, Cassandra is taken as a concubine and slave girl by
King Agamemnon of Mycenae after being
raped by Ajax. 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 carpet; he initially refused then gave in and entered, not believing Cassandra's warnings. Clytemnestra and Aegisthus
then murdered Agamemnon, and then Cassandra. Some information says that Cassandra and Agamemnon have twin boys Teledamus and Pelops, who are 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, 246-49.
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