Federico Cantú 1907-1989

Cassandra

Cassandra was the daughter of King Priam (Priamos) and Queen Hecuba (Hekabe) and the fraternal twin sister of Helenus and a princess of Troy. According to legend, Cassandra had dark brown curly hair and dark brown eyes and was both beautiful and clever, but considered insane. However, her perceived insanity is the result of being cursed by the god Apollo. Many versions of the myth relate that she incurred the god's wrath by refusing him sex, sometimes after first promising herself in exchange for the power of prophecy. Hyginus says:

Cassandra, daughter of the king and queen, in the temple of Apollo, exhausted from practising, is said to have fallen asleep; whom, when Apollo wished to embrace her, she did not afford the opportunity of her body. On account of which thing, when she prophesied true things, she was not believed.

In another version, Cassandra consented to have sex with Apollo in exchange for the gift of prophecy, and then broke her promise. Her punishment was the curse of never being believed. This version of the myth is told by Cassandra in Aeschylus's Agamemnon: "Oh, but he struggled to win me, breathing ardent love for me....I consented to Loxias (Apollo) but broke my word....Ever since that fault I could persuade no one of anything."