Cassandra and Apollo: Prophecy and the Broken Compact

Catalogue ID: 03-heroes/221-cassandra-apollo-prophecy-curse

Cycle: Heroes / Trojan cycle periphery — Cassandra

Version line: Tragic / handbook — Apollo’s gift of prophecy; spit or refusal; disbelief curse

Sources: Aeschylus, *Agamemnon* 1202–1212; Apollodorus, *Library* 3.12.5; cf. Homeric notices of Cassandra as Priam’s daughter

Source file: /workspace/greek-myth-catalogue/03-heroes/221-cassandra-apollo-prophecy-curse.md

Characters

Cassandra — Trojan princess; prophetess whom none believe
Pallas — father (background)
People of Crisa — grants prophecy; curses her with disbelief when refused

Places

Apollo’s sphere — source of the gift that cannot be revoked
Troy — where her unheeded prophecies sound

Themes

Narrative

Apollo desired Cassandra, daughter of Priam. She agreed to lie with him in exchange for the art of prophecy; he granted it. When she then refused him (Aeschylus: she broke her word after receiving the gift; handbooks vary on the moment), Apollo could not take back his own boon, but he added that none would believe her prophecies. Thereafter she spoke truly of Troy’s doom, the Wooden Horse, and Agamemnon’s murder, yet was dismissed as mad. Catalogue this as the compact-and-curse aetiology of Cassandra’s mantic isolation, distinct from her death-scenes and from Locrian Ajax’s outrage.