Cassandra: A Novel and Four Essays: Analysis of Major Characters
"Cassandra: A Novel and Four Essays" centers around the character of Cassandra, a princess of Troy endowed with the gift of prophecy by Apollo, which turns into a curse as no one believes her foretelling of doom for her city. The narrative unfolds in the aftermath of Troy's destruction, allowing Cassandra to reflect on her life, her relationships, and the tragic fate of her homeland. Key characters include Priam, her father and king of Troy, who embodies noble yet stubborn leadership; Hecuba, her mother, who grapples with the duality of longing for victory and recognizing the futility of pride; and Hector, Cassandra's brother, a reluctant warrior whose valor contrasts with his nature. The story also explores Aeneus, Cassandra's fleeting love who represents lost causes, and Agamemnon, the ruthless Greek leader responsible for the fall of Troy. Through these characters, the novel delves into themes of prophecy, fate, and the human condition amidst the backdrop of war and personal tragedy. Overall, "Cassandra" offers a poignant exploration of loss and resilience through its complex characters and their intertwined fates.
Cassandra: A Novel and Four Essays: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Christa Wolf
First published: Kassandra: Erzählung, 1983, 2 volumes (English translation, 1984)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Mycenae, Troy, Athens, and Crete
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: c.1200 b.c.e. in the novel
Cassandra, the story's narrator, a princess of Troy in Anatolia, a seer, and a priestess of the god Apollo. According to myth, Apollo granted her the gift of prophecy so that she would agree to sleep with him; when she refused, he left her with the gift but added that no one would believe her prophecies. Captured by Mycenaean Greeks under King Agamemnon, Cassandra meditates about her life in the now-ruined citadel of Troy as well as about the terrible future her captors face. Cassandra proudly recalls having been the beloved favorite of King Priam of Troy. Painfully, however, she also recalls how he cast her into prison because she dared to prophesy Troy's imminent doom. She dies rather than go with Aeneus to found a new society.
Priam (PRI-uhm), the proud king of Troy, who chooses not to heed the counsel of seers prophesying Troy's downfall, the chief of whom is his own daughter Cassandra. Noble, wise in many ways, yet stubborn and unyielding, Priam hopes to stave off fate. With his overthrow, he becomes one more Trojan leader to endure defeat in war.
Hecuba (HEH-kyuh-buh), the wife of King Priam. Along with Cassandra and others in the inner court of Troy, Hecuba hates Troy's arrogance while, at the same time, wishing for its success in battle against the Greeks. The bearer of many children, including Cassandra, Hector, Paris, and Troilus, she saves her youngest son from the wrath of the Mycenaeans by sending him abroad to Thrace, where he is subsequently murdered by the Thracian king. Wise to the world's cruel and capricious ways because of the many tragedies she has endured, Hecuba is a thoroughgoing skeptic.
Aeneus (ah-NEE-uhs), a Trojan warrior and lover of Cassandra who, after having taught her about love, vanishes. Cassandra, still dazzled by the intensity of their brief tryst, sees his disappearance as one more legacy of the war between Troy and the Greeks. Aeneus is emblematic of the young heroes who died for a lost cause. He is the son of Anchises.
Hector, a son of Priam and Hecuba. He is a large, rather sluggish young man of few words, admired by his sister Cassandra for engaging in warfare though it goes against his torpid nature to do so. Hector's misfortune is to be chased down and killed by the vengeful Greek warrior Achilles.
Anchises (ahn-CHIH-zees), a Trojan shepherd. From his legendary union with Aphrodite came a son, Aeneus.
Agamemnon (a-guh-MEHM-non), the great, powerful king of the Greek city-state Argos and leader of the Mycenaean forces in the Trojan War. Cruel, resourceful, and cunning, Agamemnon, cuckolded by Paris—who abducted his wife, Helen, to Troy—takes his revenge on the city, razing it and killing or enslaving all of its inhabitants. Among these captives is Cassandra, who, at the novel's outset, is to be killed behind Mycenae's Lion Gate.
Achilles (ah-KIHL-leez), the most famed of the Greek warriors who sacked Troy. Achilles is proud to the point of being haughty, self-directed, and moody in the extreme. He is hated intensely by Cassandra. She particularly detests his brutal nature.
Panthous (PAN-thews), a priest in Apollo's service and Cassandra's overseer in her role as priestess. Cassandra envisions Panthous as an envious and evil-minded man given to craftiness and outright treachery. Nevertheless, she admires some of his actions, such as putting an end to human sacrifices in Troy.