The Prophetess and Her Curse

A character appears in the story of Agamemnon named Cassandra that captured my attention because her nature is reminiscent of my own. Although our stories differ completely, I was drawn by her description of being attractive, a prophetess, and a captive to circumstance. I esteem her not as an insignificant slave but as a fascinating woman, enduring to the end the misfortunes fated her. Still, I relate to her sensitive yet courageous qualities as a classical character in The Oresteia.
I envision from the text that she had a substantial upbringing being a daughter of King Priam. Because of her beauty she is later taken by the god Apollo to serve as his bride. He assigns her the gift of prophecy but later curses her for having tricked him by not having his child. As a result Apollo curses her so that she may still prophesy but no one would be able to make any sense of her riddles. Somehow, she returns home to her family, her city is sieged upon and Cassandra is taken away as an enslaved concubine. Thus, she came to the house of Agamemnon, able to proclaim the horrors of the past and the tragedy she would soon suffer.
Being deemed as beautiful can be quite an honor to some but in certain circumstances this can prove also to be a curse. Because she caught the eye of Apollo she had to leave her familial security and learn a different way of life. Though I wonder about the platonic details of her relationship to Apollo, it is plain to see that she made her own decision against bearing a child for him. As a result of crossing the god, Apollo punishes her, not with death but with the affliction of being forever mocked for her unintelligible insight. Thus, the lure of outward beauty exemplifies the possibility of being caught in a harsh predicament of having to choose between being true to one’s own self verses succumbing to that of another’s dominance.
As for her prophetic visioning, I have compared that to intuition and wise living. Knowing that a cause leads to an end, a person with gained insight decides whether to take action to make things better or just let them be. Given her conversation with the Chorus I assume Cassandra felt not only oppressed but distraught about the position she was in. Regardless, she spoke in truth about events to come, understanding that her thoughts would not be completely heeded as she would have intended. Still she questions and urges her audience to seek out the answer to the mysterious revelation. It is this