Cassandra, of the royal house of Troy,
Enamored, by Apollo, love and desire,
Overtures, you spurned,
The voice of prophecy: yours alone to attain
Your gifts disavowed by the anger of his curse
Propaganda, innuendo, seeds of doubt,
Veracity of your oracles, renounced,
The Truth, warnings, the people refused to believe
In its policy of war, the rulership was staunch
Save Hector, none, in fervor, would be swayed that
The Greeks would prevail at battle’s end
No truce: victory must be pursued
Men, in their pride, call honor
Paris, in his for passion for Helen, name love
The war waged by the armies of Greece
Choices Helen freely made
Cassandra’s counsel heeded by none
Safely, entrenched behind Trojan walls,
No army can breech, steadfast against siege,
Achilles’ wrath relegated,
Ardor for Patroclus, ferocity in his loss,
Cunning and stealth, Odysseus’ trickery,
Menaleus’ wounded ego, Agamemnon’s quest
For sovereignty
They did not see what she saw:
The delusion of the Trojan horse,
Hector’s body defiled in the dirt,
Dragged by Achilles chariot
In a circuit around the city,
All the citizens to know - the coming defeat
Achilles lone vulnerability
Struck down by Paris: arrow piercing his heel
Marked as coward, Paris killed fleeing the city,
Helen repenting, restored as Menaleus’ wife,
Priam and Hecuba, in retribution, slain
Hurled from the ramparts, Hector’s little boy
Small bones shattering on the rocks,
Innocent life taken, like Ipighenia, before
No scruples the Greeks have
In sacrificing the young
The woman of Troy enslaved
Chattel to the conquerors’ lust
In Athena’s Temple, Cassandra raped
Defiling the sanctuary
The Battle Goddess her political allegiance changed
To a vow vengeance against the Greeks
Intercession too late
To rescue the vestiges of Troy
Cassandra, Agamemnon’s trophy of war,
The city consigned to flames
Never to rise in glory in this age
The rumble is unearthed
By a German Archaeologist, 2500 years later
The History beneath the Myth
Cassandra, you could not avert your people’s doom
Your divinations deemed as ravings
Verging on madness that comes from disbelief
Foresaw your own death in a foreign land
The curse of the House of Arteus fulfilled
Their children too were sacrificed
To curry favor from Gods, full of greed,
Bearing the likeness of Men