Cassandra
Trojan prophetess cursed by Apollo to always speak true prophecies that no one would ever believe.
The Legend of Cassandra
She told everyone Troy would burn — and they called her insane. Apollo gave Cassandra the gift of prophecy in exchange for her love. When she refused him, he could not revoke the gift (divine gifts are irrevocable) so he added a curse: no one would believe her predictions. She warned Paris not to sail to Greece. She warned about the Trojan Horse. She screamed as the Greeks poured out. Nobody listened. After Troy fell, Ajax the Lesser raped her in Athena's temple, provoking the goddess's wrath against the entire Greek fleet. Agamemnon took her as his concubine, and Clytemnestra murdered her on arrival at Mycenae. She died still seeing the future, still unbelieved.
Parents
Priam, Hecuba
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Cassandra complex — being right about disasters but disbelieved — is a recognized psychological phenomenon.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Cassandra
🗡 heroProphetess cursed never to be believed
A Trojan princess blessed with prophecy by Apollo but cursed so that no one would ever believe her predictions. She foresaw Troy's destruction but could not prevent it.
Manto
🗡 heroprophecy
Daughter of Tiresias and prophetess in her own right who was sent to Delphi as a war prize after Thebes fell.
Oedipus
🗡 heroKing who fulfilled the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother
The tragic king of Thebes who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother, fulfilling a prophecy he had spent his life trying to avoid.
Teiresias
🗡 heroprophecy
Blind Theban prophet who lived seven generations and was the only mortal to experience life as both man and woman.
Calchas
🗡 heroprophecy
Chief seer of the Greek army at Troy who interpreted omens, demanded Iphigenia's sacrifice, and foretold the war's length.
Mopsus
🗡 heroprophecy
Son of Manto and grandson of Tiresias who defeated the great seer Calchas in a divination contest, causing Calchas to die.
Amphiaraus
🗡 heroThe prophet who foresaw his own death at Thebes
A warrior-prophet who knew the Seven Against Thebes would fail but marched to his death anyway, swallowed by the earth.
Tiresias
🗡 heroBlind prophet of Thebes
The most famous seer in Greek mythology, blinded by the gods but given the gift of prophecy in compensation. Tiresias advised kings and heroes across multiple generations.
Phineus the Seer
🗡 heroprophecy
Blind Thracian king and prophet cursed by Zeus to have his food snatched by Harpies until the Argonauts freed him.
Phineus
🗡 heroprophecy, punishment
A blind Thracian king and prophet punished by Zeus for revealing divine secrets, tormented by Harpies until rescued by the Argonauts.
Teiresias
🗡 heroBlind prophet of Thebes
Tiresias was the blind seer of Thebes who experienced life as both man and woman, was blinded by the gods, and compensated with the gift of prophecy.
Clytemnestra
🗡 heroQueen who murdered Agamemnon
Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon on his return from Troy, driven by rage over Iphigenia's sacrifice.