All Episodes

October 9, 2025 49 mins
Who was the mythical Cassandra and why have pop stars started singing about her? Mary and Charlotte turn sleuth and track the elusive Trojan princess through the pages of ancient texts - from Homer’s Iliad to Virgil’s Aeneid.  Today, Cassandra is most famous as a prophetess who could predict the future, but was cursed to never be believed. As a result, Troy burned and Agamemnon and Cassandra herself were murdered. Generally, that disbelieving was done by men. No wonder people talk of Greta Thunberg as a modern day Cassandra, or that Taylor Swift and Florence Welch have positioned her as a pin-up girl for misunderstood (female) celebrities.  But, with the greatest respect to Taylor and Florence, Mary and Charlotte think Cassandra is rather more interesting than that. From her warnings about the Trojan Horse right through to her very nasty end at the gates of Mycenae, Cassandra’s story tells us about the limitations of human communication and language more generally. That, not just because she said ‘I told you so’, is why she stays with us, meaning different things at different times.  @instaclassicpod for Insta, TikTok and YouTube @insta_classics for X email: instantclassicspod@gmail.com Mary and Charlotte recommend some further reading We focus on Cassandra’s role in Aeschylus’ play Agamemnon in the moments leading up to her death (easily available in translation in eg Penguin Classics or Oxford World’s Classics series). Euripides’ Trojan Women (likewise easily available in translation) takes the women who appear at the end of the Iliad – Hecuba, Helen, Andromache and Cassandra – and asks: “What happened to these women after Troy fell?” Lesya Ukrainka’s 1908 dramatic poem Cassandra, translated by Nina Murray (Harvard Library of Ukrainian Literature, 2024), a classic of Ukrainian literature now available in English, brilliantly puts Cassandra at the centre of her own story. A philosophically rich and very moving text. Emily Hauser, Mythica (Doubleday, 2025; Penelope’s Bones in the USA) explores the figure of Cassandra from “real” early Greek women prophets to Ukrainka’s version. The rape of Cassandra at the end of the Trojan War was a “favourite” subject for Greek artists. Try: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1824-0501-35 Or https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1873-0820-366 Or (from the walls of Pompeii) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Ajax_drags_Cassandra_from_Palladium.jpg/960px-Ajax_drags_Cassandra_from_Palladium.jpg Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci Producer: Jonty Claypole  Executive Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Video Editor: Jak Ford Theme music: Casey Gibson   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.

24/7 News: The Latest

24/7 News: The Latest

The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.