Whom did Apollo, an oracular god and son of Zeus, give the power of prophecy?

In an effort to seduce Cassandra, Apollo gave her the power of prophecy. But, when she refused him, he spat into her mouth to inflict a curse that nobody would ever believe her prophecies. Cassandra ultimately became a figure of epic tradition and tragedy.

She was the daughter of King Priam (Priamos) and Queen Hecuba (Hekabe) and the fraternal twin sister of Helenus and a princess of Troy. According to legend, Cassandra had dark brown curly hair and dark brown eyes and was both beautiful and clever, but considered insane. However, her perceived insanity was the result of being cursed by Apollo. Many stories concerning Cassandra contain the statement that she incurred the god's wrath by refusing him sex, sometimes after first promising herself in exchange for the power of prophecy.

More Info: www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com

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19 Comments

Gemma Berry

Like six months ago if somebody told you toilet roll will be a hot commodity 😀

Joanne Serin

Gemma Berry, more like 2 years ago

Bob Blumrick

Reminds me of the biblical prophet Jeremiah, "The weeping prophet", who prophesied the coming of the Babylonian conquest and destruction of Israel and Judah for having fallen away from God. No one believed him, either, in fact he was thrown down a well and would have drowned had his deputy Baruch and some other friends not rescued him. Before he died, Babylon did invade, and it was not pretty at all.

Odd Joe

Having worked as a strategic analyst I called the responses to my work, 'The Cassandra Complex', so this was a very easy question!

Joe Mangan

Peter Robertson, and which "prophet" do you suggest they should believe in preference to the preponderance of scientific opinion? Back to the Dark Ages with you, sir.