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Cassandra
(redirected from Cassandras)

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Cassandra (kəsăn`drə), in Greek legend, Trojan princess, daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She was given the power of prophecy by Apollo, but because she would not accept him as a lover, he changed her blessing to a curse, causing her prophecies never to be believed. While seeking refuge from the Greeks during the Trojan War, she was dragged from the temple of Athena and violated by the Locrian Ajax. After the war she was the slave of Agamemnon and was killed with him by his wife Clytemnestra. She was also known as Alexandra.

Cassandra

In Greek mythology, the daughter of King Priam of Troy. Apollo promised her the gift of prophecy if she would grant his desires; she accepted the gift but rebuffed the god, who took his revenge by ordaining that her prophecies should never be believed. She predicted the fall of Troy and the death of Agamemnon, but her warnings went unheeded. Given as part of the war spoils to Agamemnon, she was murdered with him.


Cassandra
no one gave credence to her accurate prophecies of doom. [Gk. Myth.: Zimmerman, 51]
See : Disbelief

Cassandra
true prophet, doomed to go unbelieved. [Gk. Myth.: Espy, 40]
See : Irony

Cassandra
no credence ever given to her truthful prophecies of doom. [Gk. Myth.: Zimmerman, 51]
See : Pessimism

Cassandra
always accurate but fated to be disbelieved, predicts doom of Troy to brother, Hector. [Br. Lit.: Troilus and Cressida; Gk. Myth.: Parrinder, 57]
See : Prophecy

Cassandra
raped by Ajax the Less on the night Troy fell. [Gk. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 17]
See : Rape

Cassandra
commits suicide to escape the Athenians. [Fr. Opera: Berlioz, The Trojans, Westerman, 174]
See : Suicide

Cassandra 

in ancient Greek mythology, the daughter of the Trojan king Priam and Hecuba.

Captivated by Cassandra’s beauty, the god Apollo endowed her with the gift of prophecy. But after she rejected him, Apollo decreed that no one would believe her prophecies. The Trojans, in particular, did not heed the words of Cassandra, who cautioned Paris against abducting Helen, an act that triggered the Trojan War. After the capture of Troy by the Greeks, Agamemnon took Cassandra captive; she died with him at the hands of his wife, Clytemnestra.

Figuratively, the term “Cassandra’s prophecies” means gloomy predictions that are mistrusted by listeners.



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