In Greek mythology, Cassandra, daughter of
King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. The god Apollo, who loved Cassandra,
granted her the gift of prophecy, but when she refused to return his love,
Apollo made the gift useless by decreeing that no one would believe her predictions.
Cassandra warned the Trojans of many dangers, including the wooden horse by
which the Greeks entered the city, but she was dismissed as a madwoman.
After the fall of Troy, she was dragged from her sanctuary in the temple of
the goddess Athena by Ajax the Lesser and brought to the Greek camp. When
the spoils were divided, Cassandra was awarded to King Agamemnon as his slave
and mistress. Cassandra warned him that he would be killed if he returned
to Greece; again she was not believed. Upon their arrival in Mycenae she and
Agamemnon were murdered by Clytemnestra, queen of Mycenae and wife of Agamemnon.