Death of Cassandra. Prophetic

Cassandra (Cassandra, other Greek Κασσάνδρα) - in ancient times Greek mythology daughter of the last Trojan king Priam and his second wife Hecuba. She received a prophetic gift from Apollo, who fell in love with her, but because she, having deceived her, did not reciprocate his feelings, he made it so that no one believed Cassandra’s predictions. Cassandra’s tragic prophecies were not heeded; she was ridiculed and taken for mad. But what was predicted came true in the death of her family and the destruction of Troy.

Her name became a household name, in figuratively - a messenger of misfortune.

“Woe to you! Woe is me!"

1 Mythology
- 1.1 Trojan War
- 1.2 After the fall of Troy
- 1.3 Death
- 1.4 Subsequent tradition
2 Appearance
3 In art
- 3.1 In literature
  - 3.1.1 Dramaturgy
  - 3.1.2 Poetry
  - 3.1.3 Prose
- 3.2 In music
- 3.3 In astronomy

Mythology

Cassandra, Priam's daughter,
Blue-eyed maiden in lush curls.
Lives in the memory of mortals.

Ivik

Information about it is very numerous and often contradictory. Also called Alexandra. Sister of the other children of the royal couple: Hector, Paris, Polyxena, and the rest.

According to Homer, she was the most beautiful of Priam's daughters, but he does not mention her prophetic gift. Already in the cyclic poems she appears as a prophetess, whose predictions no one believes.

The most popular version of the appearance of her prophetic gift is given in the tragedy of Aeschylus “Agamemnon”, where Cassandra tells the chorus that she promised Apollo to return his love, and received from God the ability to broadcast about the future, but deceived him by rejecting him, and thus incurred his wrath : Apollo made sure that no one believed her prophecies. In Servius's story this is shown in symbolic form: Apollo spits in the girl's mouth (having persuaded her to kiss).

According to a later, less common version of the myth, one day in childhood, being forgotten by adults during a festival, Cassandra, along with her twin brother Helen, fell asleep in the temple of Apollo of Thymbrey (on the Trojan plain), and there the sacred snakes licked her ears so cleanly that she could “hear” the future.

Trojan War

Soon after the events of the Judgment of Paris - in a dispute between three goddesses for the title of most beautiful - Paris participates in competitions in Troy, defeating everyone. The son of Priam and Hecuba, about whom it was predicted even before his birth that he would become the culprit of the death of Troy and he was abandoned by his parents on Mount Ida, but survived there, and now descended from it as an unknown shepherd - in whom Cassandra was the first to recognize Paris, and wanted to kill him, foreseeing that he would bring misfortune to Troy.

However, he was solemnly returned to royal house. Sailing to Sparta, she predicts his future, but they do not believe her. She predicted in vain that Helen would be the cause of the death of Troy when she arrived in the city. And then and after everyone laughed at her as if she were crazy, and Priam ordered her to be kept locked up.

Cassandra was the first to see the body of her brother Hector when Priam brought him, and she began to cry.

According to Homer, the hero Ophryoneus came to the aid of Troy, asking Cassandra to be his wife and promising to expel the Danaans, and Priam agreed, but he died in battle.

After the fall of Troy

Cassandra in vain resisted the introduction of a wooden horse into the city, warning about the danger hidden in it; again no one listened to her.

When the Achaeans captured Troy, she sought refuge in the temple of Athena near the wooden statue of the goddess. The Locrian Eant (Ajax the Lesser) tore her away from her and raped her. The eyes of the statue turned to the sky, not wanting to look at this shame, Athena became angry and subsequently took revenge on the Greeks (see Locrian Virgins), Ajax himself was killed on the way home.

Philostratus notes that Ajax did not rape her, as they falsely say, but only took her to his tent. When Agamemnon saw Cassandra, he was struck by her beauty and, wanting to take her away from Ajax, accused him of sacrilege, and he fled. Earlier authors write that Cassandra went to Agamemnon during the division of the spoils and became his captive (slave).

Quintus of Smyrna says that the captured Trojan women wept and looked at Cassandra, remembering her prophecies, which they did not believe, but she laughed.

The Achaeans discussed whether Cassandra or Polyxena should be sacrificed to Achilles, but chose the latter, since Cassandra had already been to Agamemnon’s bed. Pausanias also writes that Cassandra left a casket with the image of Dionysus for the misfortune of one of the Hellenes who found it, and it went to prey to Eurypylus, the son of Ebemon.

Death

While Agamemnon was at war, his wife Clytemnestra began to cheat on her husband with Aegisthus. According to unknown tragedy, retold by Hyginus, Palamedes' brother Oiax, in order to avenge him, lied that Agamemnon was taking Cassandra as a concubine, thereby causing her jealousy. The remaining authors have no doubt that she became the king's concubine.

When Agamemnon and Cassandra arrive in Mycenae, Clytemnestra asks her husband to walk on a purple carpet (this color symbolizes the gods). Agamemnon initially refuses, but eventually gives in and steps on it, committing sacrilege as he walks on it. He does not heed the prediction of Cassandra, who foresees her death, the death of the king and Orestes' revenge for them.

Then Clytemnestra and Aegisthus kill Agamemnon, and Cassandra was killed by Clytemnestra herself (according to Homer, together with the king, according to Aeschylus - a little later).

Some sources mention that Cassandra and Agamemnon give birth to either a son, Teledemus, or twin boys, Teledamus and Pelops, who were also killed by Aegisthus.

Subsequent tradition

Cassandra's grave was shown in Amykla, and the grave of her children was shown in Mycenae. However, in Euripides Cassandra predicts that her body will be devoured by animals (which explained the absence of a grave at the place of death). In Amykla and Leuctra (Laconica) in ancient times there were temples with statues of Cassandra, who was revered here under the name Alexandra. Her sanctuary was in Davnia, where she was revered as a goddess. Plutarch gives an interpretation according to which Cassandra died in Talama (Laconica) and received the name Pasiphae, under which she was revered (so she was identified with the local deity, whose oracle was in Talama).

Asteroid 114, discovered in 1871, is named after Cassandra.

Appearance

Homer limits himself to calling Cassandra " most beautiful"and compares her to the "golden Aphrodite." Ivik also speaks of her beauty, and she is called “ blue-eyed maiden in lush curls" ABOUT " gold braids"says Euripides. According to Lucian, Polygnotus at Delphi depicted Cassandra with remarkable eyebrows and rosy cheeks.

Portrait characteristics appear already in early medieval texts. Dareth has it " small in stature, with a graceful mouth, red-haired, with sparkling eyes, knowing the future" Malala gives the following description:

short (?), with round eyes, fair-skinned, with a masculine build, with a beautiful nose, beautiful eyes, black-eyed, with light brown hair, curly, with a beautiful neck, large breasts, small legs, calm, noble, priestess, truthful prophetess and predictor of everything, chaste maiden

John Tzetz in describing Cassandra's appearance follows Malala, slightly shortening it.

In art

One of the scenes on the Kypselus casket showed Ajax dragging Cassandra away from the statue of Athena, and included Pausanias a line of poetry about this.

The painting of Polygnotus, located in Delphi, depicted the following episode: Ajax takes the oath on the altar, and Cassandra sits on the ground with the xoan of Athena, which she holds in her hands. Ajax's violence against Cassandra was also the subject of a painting by Panen, located in Olympia.

According to Pliny, the painter Theor (late 4th-early 3rd century BC, perhaps corrected to Theon) created the painting "Cassandra", which could later be seen in the Roman Temple of Concord. The poet Christodorus described the statue of Cassandra as silent.

In literature

Dramaturgy

Character in Aeschylus's tragedy "Agamemnon", Euripides' tragedies "Alexander" and "The Trojan Women", tragedies unknown author“Cassandra”, tragedy Action “Clytemnestra”, Seneca’s “Agamemnon”. Lycophron's monodrama "Alexandra" consists almost entirely of the monologue of the prophetess, mysterious language predicting future events up to the campaigns of Alexander the Great.

The tragedy of G. Eilenberg “Cassandra”.
The tragedy of Lesya Ukrainka "Cassandra".
The tragedy of P. Ernst “Cassandra”.

Poetry

F. Schiller, ballad "Cassandra".
V. K. Kuchelbecker, poem “Cassandra”.
Merezhkovsky, “Cassandra” (1922)

Alterations from Aeschylus:

A.F. Merzlyakov, “Cassandra in the palace of Agamemnon.”
A. N. Maikov, “Cassandra”.

Prose

Story: Hans Erich Nossack. Cassandra (1947)
Christa Wolf's story “Kassandra” (Kassandra, 1984, Russian 1988), where the story is told in the first person.
M. Z. Bradley's novel “The Firebrand” (1986). In the works of Wolf and Bradley, Aeneas is Cassandra's lover.
Lindsay Clarke's novel “Return from Troy” (2005).
Trilogy by David Gemmell "Troy" (Troy Series, 2005-2007).

Works using the name or image of Cassandra:

Caroline Cherry's short story "Cassandra" (1978)
Chingiz Aitmatov’s novel “Cassandra’s Brand” (1996).
Cassandra's Dream (film) (2007).
Bernard Werber's novel "The Mirror of Cassandra" (fr. Le Miroir de Cassandre) (2009)

In music

The Swedish group ABBA recorded the song "Cassandra" in 1982, in which main character, a resident of Troy, addresses her. The song was released as a B-side on their latest single "The Day Before You Came"

Vladimir Vysotsky “Song About the Thing Cassandra” (1967).
The composition of the English composer Brian Ferneyhough “The Song of the Dream (Dream) of Cassandra” 1974.
The composition of Mikael Jarrell "Cassandra" (1993).
The 1998 album of the Norwegian rock band Theater of Tragedy “Aégis” begins with the composition “ Cassandra».
Song German group Blind Guardian " And then there was Silence"about Cassandra, the Trojan War, the death of Hector and the destruction of Troy (2001).
In 2008, the Russian rock band Origami released the album “Cassandra Syndrome” with a song of the same name on the record.
In the same year of 2008, the Russian rock band Bi-2 released the single “Muse,” which included a composition called “Cassandra.”

In astronomy

The asteroid (114) Cassandra, discovered on July 23, 1871 by the German-American astronomer C. G. F. Peters in Clinton, USA, is named after Cassandra.

- (Cassandra, Κασσάνδρα). Daughter of the Trojan king Priam and Hecuba. She was distinguished by her beauty and was loved by the god Apollo, from whom she received the gift of divination. But because she did not respond to his love, Apollo punished her by the fact that no one believed her... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology

From the poem “The Iliad” by the poet of Ancient Greece Homer (IX century BC). Cassandra is the daughter of the Trojan king Priam, whom the god Apollo, who was in love with her, endowed with the gift of prophecy. But when she rejected his love, he, in order to take revenge on her, made her... ... Dictionary winged words and expressions

The daughter of Priam, who received the gift of prophecy from Apollo, but was punished by the fact that no one believed her mostly unfavorable predictions. Dictionary foreign words, included in the Russian language. Pavlenkov F., 1907. CASSANDRA is the most beautiful... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Cassandra

Cassandra- (Evpatoria, Crimea) Hotel category: Address: Sanatorskaya Street 4, 97416 Evpatoria, Crimea Description: Apart-hotel "Cassandra" with modern decor and free Wi-Fi is located in Evpatoria ... Hotel catalog

Soothsayer, prophetess Dictionary of Russian synonyms. cassandra noun, number of synonyms: 4 amalthea (4) ... Dictionary of synonyms

CASSANDRA, in Greek mythology, the daughter of Priam, who received a prophetic gift from Apollo. Cassandra's tragic prophecies were rejected and ridiculed, but then they were embodied in the death of her family and the destruction of Troy. The image of Cassandra is widely reflected in... ... Modern encyclopedia

In Greek mythology, the daughter of King Priam of Troy, who received a prophetic gift from Apollo. Apollo, rejected by Cassandra, made sure that her prophecies were no longer believed (thus, the Trojans did not heed the words of Cassandra, who warned Paris against kidnapping... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Kassandra) according to Homer, the most beautiful of the daughters of Priam; After the capture of Troy, she was taken as a spoil by Agamemnon, who brought her with him to Mycenae, where she was killed, along with him, by Clytemnestra. Among subsequent poets, K. is endowed with the gift of divination,... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

Cassandra- Ajax and Cassandra. Fragment of the crater painting by the artist Lycurgus. 360 350 BC National Museum. Naples. Ajax and Cassandra. Fragment of the crater painting by the artist Lycurgus. 360 350 BC National Museum. Naples. Cassandra in ancient myths... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary " World history»

Books

Cassandra, Anastasia Akulova. I always believed in miracles - it helped a lot on difficult days. But even I could not imagine that I, a girl with an average gift, from an ordinary city family, would be accepted into the Academy of Higher... e-book
Cassandra, M. Weller. This book is like glasses: with it you begin to clearly see what was before your eyes before, but did not differ in the integrity of the details. Light and precise language the author reveals the most acute...

; sister of Paris and Hector.

The amazing beauty of the golden-haired and blue-eyed Cassandra, “like Aphrodite,” ignited the love of the god Apollo, but she agreed to become his beloved only on the condition that he endow her with the gift of divination. However, having received this gift, Cassandra refused to fulfill her promise, for which Apollo took revenge on her by depriving her of the ability to persuade; there is a version that he also doomed her to celibacy. Although Cassanda rebelled against God, she was constantly tormented by a feeling of guilt towards him. She made predictions in an ecstatic state, so she was considered crazy.

Cassandra's tragedy is that she foresees the fall of Troy, the death of loved ones and her own own death, but is powerless to prevent them. She was the first to recognize Paris in an unknown shepherd who won a sports competition, and tried to kill him as the future culprit Trojan War. Later she persuaded him to give up Elena. Since Cassandra predicted only misfortunes, Priam ordered her to be locked in a tower, where she could only mourn the coming disasters of her homeland. During the siege of Troy, she almost became the wife of the hero Ophrioneus, who vowed to defeat the Greeks, but he was killed in battle Cretan king Idomeneo. She was the first to announce to the Trojans the return of Priam with the body of Hector from the enemy camp. She predicted to Aeneas, the only one who believed her Trojan hero what is in store for him and his descendants great destiny in Italy. She warned her compatriots that armed soldiers were hidden inside the Trojan Horse. During the capture of Troy, she tried to find refuge in the temple of Pallas Athena, but Ajax, the son of Oileus, forcibly tore her away from the statue of the goddess and even (according to one version) violated her. During the division of the spoils, she became a slave of the Mycenaean king Agamemnon, who was touched by her beauty and dignity and made her his concubine. She predicted his death at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra and her own death.

Taken by Agamemnon to Greece. She gave birth to two twin sons from him - Teledamus and Pelops. She was killed by Clytemnestra along with Agamemnon and her sons at a festival in the royal palace in Mycenae. According to one version, the mortally wounded Agamemnon tried to protect her, according to another, she herself rushed to his aid.

The story of Cassandra was extremely popular in ancient art and literature. Painters prefer to depict the scene of her abduction from the temple by Ajax and the scene of the murder (the casket of Cypselus, the crater of the vase painter Lycurgus, frescoes in Pompeii and Herculaneum, a painting by an unknown artist, described in Images Philostratus). The hopelessness and tragedy of the fate of the Trojan prophetess often attracted Greek and Roman playwrights - Aeschylus ( Agamemnon), Euripides ( Trojan women), Seneca ( Agamemnon). IN Hellenistic era she became the heroine of a scientific poem Alexandra Philostrata.

IN European culture Interest in this mythological character was revived at the end of the 18th century. (ballad F. Schiller) and especially affected Russian literature of the first half of the 19th century. (poem V.K. Kuchelbecker, drama Cassandra in the halls of Agamemnon A. F. Merzlyakova, drama A.N. Maykova). In the 20th century, during the era of world wars, the image of Cassandra turned out to be even more in demand due to the particular importance of the theme of vain prophecy and the unrecognized prophet. He was approached by L.Ukrainka ( ; 1902–1907), D. Drinkwater (Night of the Trojan War; 1917), J. Giraudoux (No Trojan War will; 1935), G.Hauptmann ( Death of Agamemnon; 1944), A. McLay (Trojan horse ; 1952), R. Bayra (Agamemnon must die; 1955) etc.

Ivan Krivushin

Activities during life the most famous women - clairvoyants and fortune tellers are surrounded by legends. Thanks to this, many information and legends about famous oracles have been preserved to this day. It is no secret that the majority of predictors have always been female, since it is more natural for women to engage in this type of activity, because a woman has a more subtle nature than a man and her intuition is more developed. It is customary to call themfortune tellers or witches.

One of the most ancient and famous clairvoyants, about whom legends have survived to this day, was Cassandra, the seer ancient Greece. She was the daughter of the last Trojan king Priam and Queen Hecuba; sister of Paris and Hector.

The amazing beauty of the golden-haired and blue-eyed Cassandra, “like Aphrodite,” ignited the love of the god Apollo, but she agreed to become his beloved only on the condition that he endow her with the gift of prophecy. However, having received this gift, Cassandra refused to fulfill her promise, for which Apollo took revenge on her by depriving her of the ability to persuade; there is a version that he also doomed her to celibacy. Although Cassandra rebelled against God, she was constantly tormented by a feeling of guilt towards him. She uttered her prophecies in an ecstatic state, so she was considered insane.

Tragedy Cassandra was that she foresaw the fall of Troy, the death of loved ones and her own death, but was powerless to prevent them. She was the first to recognize Paris in an unknown shepherd who won a sports competition, and tried to kill him as the future culprit of the Trojan War. Later she persuaded him to give up Elena. When she tried to tell people about the upcoming tragedy, even her own father did not believe her. “The walls of Troy are strong,” he said, “and the enemies cannot reach us.” Trying to convince her compatriots, Cassandra lost her mind and became a universal laughing stock.

Since Cassandra predicted only misfortunes, Priam ordered her to be locked in a tower, where she could only mourn the coming disasters of her homeland. . ABOUT Cassandra's prophecies they remembered only when they began to come true - but nothing could be changed here. It is interesting that the death of Troy was also predicted by the priest of Apollo Calchas, and another priest, Laocoon, begged the Trojans not to bring into their city the wooden horse left by the Achaeans. But it was Cassandra who remained for centuries a symbol of the ill-fated fate of the seer.

During the siege of Troy, she almost became the wife of the hero Ophrioneus, who vowed to defeat the Greeks, but he was killed in battle by the Cretan king Idomeneo. Cassandra was the first to announce to the Trojans the return of Priam with the body of Hector from the enemy camp and predicted to Aeneas, the only Trojan hero who believed her, that a great fate was destined for him and his descendants in Italy. During the capture of Troy, she tried to find refuge in the temple of Pallas Athena, but Ajax, the son of Oileus, forcibly tore her away from the statue of the goddess and even violated her. During the division of the spoils, she became a slave of the Mycenaean king Agamemnon, who was touched by her beauty and dignity and made her his concubine. Later, while with Agamemnon in Greece, Cassandra gave birth to two twin sons from him - Teledamus and Pelops - and predicted his death at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra and her own death. Her last prophecies came true and at a festival in the royal palace in Mycenae, she was killed along with Agamemnon and her sons. According to one version, the mortally wounded Agamemnon tried to protect her, according to another, she herself rushed to his aid.

The story of Cassandra was extremely popular in ancient art and literature. The hopelessness and tragedy of the fate of the Trojan prophetess often attracted Greek and Roman playwrights, and painters preferred to depict the scene of her abduction from the temple by Ajax and the scene of her murder.

Cassandra (Greek Κασσάνδρα), middle name: Alexandra (Greek Ἀλεξάνδρα), soothsayer and prophet, - according to Homer, the most beautiful of the daughters of Priam and Queen Hecuba; sister of Paris and Hector. According to one myth, Cassandra spent the night in the temple of Apollo with her twin brother Helen, and there the temple snakes licked her ears so clean that she was able to “hear” the future.

Cassandra's tragedy is that she foresees the fall of Troy, the death of loved ones and her own death, but is powerless to prevent them. She was the first to recognize Paris in an unknown shepherd who won a sports competition, and tried to kill him as the future culprit of the Trojan War. Later she persuaded him to give up Elena. Since Cassandra predicted only misfortunes, Priam ordered her to be locked in a tower, where she could only mourn the coming disasters of her homeland. During the siege of Troy, she almost became the wife of the hero Ophrioneus, who vowed to defeat the Greeks, but he was killed in battle by the Cretan king Idomeneo. Telephus, the son of Hercules, also loved Cassandra, but she despised him and even helped seduce her sister Laodice. She was the first to announce to the Trojans the return of Priam with the body of Hector from the enemy camp. She predicted to Aeneas, the only Trojan hero who believed her, that a great fate was destined for him and his descendants in Italy. She opposed the introduction of a wooden horse into the city and warned her compatriots that armed soldiers were hidden inside the Trojan Horse.

On the night of the fall of Troy, Cassandra sought salvation at the altar in the temple of Pallas Athena, but Ajax, the son of Oileus, tore her away from the altar-statue of the goddess and took her by force. For this, Athena later punished Ajax and other Achaeans.

During the division of the spoils, she went to the Mycenaean king Agamemnon, who was touched by her beauty and dignity and made her his concubine. Taken by Agamemnon to Greece. She gave birth to two twin sons from him - Teledamus and Pelops.

Cassandra predicted Agamemnon's death at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra and her own death at a festival in the royal palace in Mycenae, but he did not believe the predictions of the prophetess from Troy.

While Agamemnon was at war, his wife Clytemnestra began to cheat on her husband with Aegisthus. When Agamemnon and Cassandra arrive in Mycenae, Clytemnestra asks her husband to walk on a purple carpet, the color of which symbolizes the Olympian gods.

The painting "" was painted by the artist Joseph Solomon in 1886.

Agamemnon initially refuses, but eventually gives in and goes for it; but by walking on this purple carpet he commits blasphemy. Then Clytemnestra and Aegisthus kill Agamemnon. Cassandra was killed by Clytemnestra herself. According to one version, the mortally wounded Agamemnon tried to protect her, according to another, she herself rushed to his aid. Her sons Teledamus and Pelops were also killed by Clytemnestra's lover Aegisthus.
The right to be considered the resting place of Cassandra in antiquity was disputed by the inhabitants of Mycenae and Amycles; Temples were erected in her honor in Amyclae and Leuctra (in Laconia). This allows us to talk about the existence of the cult of Cassandra in the Peloponnese.

The story of Cassandra was extremely popular in ancient art and literature. Painters prefer to depict the scene of her abduction from the temple by Ajax and the scene of her murder (the casket of Cypselus, the crater of the vase painter Lycurgus, frescoes in Pompeii and Herculaneum, a painting by an unknown artist described in the Images of Philostratus). The hopelessness and tragedy of the fate of the Trojan prophetess often attracted Greek and Roman playwrights - Aeschylus (Agamemnon), Euripides (Alexander, Trojan Women), Lycophron (Cassandreides), Actium (Clytemnestra), Seneca (Agamemnon). In the Hellenistic era, she became the heroine of a learned poem by Alexander Philostratus.

In European culture, interest in this mythological character was revived at the end of the 18th century. (ballad “Cassandra” by F. Schiller) and especially affected Russian literature of the first half of the 19th century (poem “Cassandra” by V.K. Kuchelbecker, drama “Cassandra in the Halls of Agamemnon” by A.F. Merzlyakov, drama “Cassandra” by A.N. Maykova). In the 20th century, during the era of world wars, the image of Cassandra turned out to be even more in demand due to the particular importance of the theme of vain prophecy and the unrecognized prophet. He was approached by L. Ukrainka (“Cassandra”; 1902–1907), D. Drinkwater (“Night of the Trojan War”; 1917), J. Girodoux (“There Will Be No Trojan War”; 1935), G. Hauptmann (“The Death of Agamemnon” "; 1944), A. MacLey ("Trojan Horse"; 1952), R. Bayra ("Agamemnon Must Die"; 1955), etc. The statue of Cassandra by Max Klinger conveys the loneliness and sorrow of the prophet who predicted the fall of Troy, but was not understood by her own people. by the people.

Quatrains, centuries and prophecies of Nostradamus about the events of world history