Cassandra

CASSANDRA

 

 

 

by

 

 

 

KERRY GREENWOOD

 

 

 

 

Cassandra is the second in The Delphic Women trilogy.

Doomed, magnificent Troy is burning...

Cassandra, the golden-haired princess cursed with the gift of prophecy, and Diomenes, the Achaean with the healing hands, become puppets of the gods.

Their passions are thwarted, their loves betrayed, their gifts rendered useless for the sake of a wager between two immortals.

Will Cassandra and Diomenes find each other in the light of the burning city?

And, if they do, can their love survive the machinations of malicious gods and men?

With thanks to David Greagg, Jenny Pausacker,
Susan Tonkin, Stuart Reeh, Edward Jarrett, Sarah Jane Reeh,
Andrea Walker, Vanessa Craigie, Themetrula Gardner,
Irene Kazantzidis, and Danny Spooner.

Aegyptus

a shipmaster

Aeneas

son of Aphrodite

Anchises

father of Aeneas

Andromache

wife of Hector and mother of Astyanax

Astyanax

son of Andromache and Hector

Briseis

Trojan woman captured by Achilles and claimed by Agamemnon

Bashti

an Egyptian woman

Cassandra

daughter of Priam and Hecube and priestess of Apollo

Cerasus

son of Priam

Clea

a Trojan woman

Cycne

an Achaean ex-slave, now a Trojan girl

Dardanus

first king of Troy

Deiphobos

son of Priam

Dion

fisherman and priest of Poseidon

Eirene

`peace', a Trojan girl

Eleni

twin brother of Cassandra, priest of Apollo

Erecthi

son of Priam

Ethipi

a shipmaster

Eumides

a trader, Trojan slave in Mycenae

Ganymede

a Trojan prince kidnapped by Zeus

Hector

son of Priam, captain and `bulwark' of the city

Hecube

the Queen

Idume

priest of Adonis

Iris

a Trojan girl

Lani

a woman of Troy

Maeron

a Trojan boy

Mysion

priest of Apollo

Nyssa

the twins' nurse

Oenon

wife of Pariki, mother of Corythus

Pandarus

Trojan hero

Pariki

son of Priam

Perseis

mistress of maidens

Polites

son of Priam

Polyxena

daughter of Priam, sister of Cassandra

Psyche

an archer of Troy

Priam

the King, `the ransomed one'

Sarpedon

a hero of Troy

Sirianthis

a soldier of Troy

Stathi

a mou or cat, Egyptian beast, friend of Hector

Theones

a shipmaster

Tithon

the healer, priestess of the Mother

Tros

second king of Troy, the holy city of Ilium

Aigleia

`eagle-eyed'

Charis
Eris

`strife'

Hippia

`horse-woman'

Myrine / Penthesileia / Tydia

leader of the Amazons, daughter of Ares

Achilles

son of Thetis, leader of the Myrmidons

Agamemnon

son of Atreas of Mycenae

Arias

a hero

Arion

of Telamon, `dolphin-rider', a bard

Atreidae

collective title for the brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus

Calchas

high priest of Apollo

Castor & Polydeuses

twin brothers of Elene

Clytemnestra

daughter of Zeus and Leda, half-sister of Elene, married to Agamemnon

Dikaos

lord of Tiryns

Diomedesa

hero of Aetolia

Elene

daughter of Zeus and Leda, most beautiful woman in the world, married to Menelaus

Elisa

woman of Mycenae

Hermaphroditus

a nymph who had her wish granted

Iphigenia

daughter of Agamemnon, sacrificed for a wind at Aulis

Menelaus

brother of Agamemnon, prince of Sparta and husband of Elene

Memon

apprentice to the bard Arion

Neoloptolemus

son of Achilles by Deidama, born after Achilles left Sciros where he had hidden among the girls

Nestor

the old man, `honey voiced', went with the Argonauts and then to Troy

Odysseus

prince of Ithaca, called Kokkinos `red-head'

Palamedes

of Euboea, father of Chryseis and lover of Myrses, responsible for bringing Odysseus to the Trojans

Patrocles

lover of Achilles, killed by Hector

Perseus

founder of Mycenae, demigod

Philoctetes

an archer, marooned and retrieved on prophecy of Eleni of Troy

Pithias

a goatherd of Mycenae

Telamon

married the kidnapped Hesione, princess of Troy

Thersites

an Achaean soldier

Tyndareus

king of Sparta, foster father of Elene

Talthybius

herald of the Arrgives

Achis

a Kritian healer

Asius

a healer

Chryseis

daughter of Palameses, wife of Diomenes

Diomenes

priest of Asclepius, also called Chryse `the golden'

Glaucus

master of Epidavros, priest of Asclepius

Itarnes

a healer and Diomenes' best friend

Lepith

a Corinthian healer

Macaon

the surgeon, son of Glaucus

Podilarius

the physician, son of Glaucus

Telops

a healer

Thoriaon

a healer

Tiraes

an old man

Cleone

an Achaean woman

Milanion

a soldier

Myrses

lover of Palameses

Pais

a pregnant woman

Pilas

man of Kokkinades

First was Tantalus, son of Zeus, who liked offending gods. Stole nectar and ambrosia and sold it to men. Tattled about Olympus. He cooked and served up his son Pelops to Zeus, who took offence, and sent him to stand in crystal water he could never drink, and in biting range of apples he could never eat. Zeus resurrected Pelops, replacing his cooked shoulder with an ivory one.

Pelops, king of Phrygia, inherited mischievous tendencies. Courted Hippodemia, princess of Pisa. Her father challenged each suitor to a chariot race which he always won. She got tired of this and sawed the royal axle half through. Wheel fell off, Pelops won, and killed Oenomaus. Hippodemia married Pelops and bore Thyestes and Atreus.

Atreus married Aerope but she fell in love with Thyestes and bore him two children, who Atreus cooked and served up to his brother at a reconciliation supper.
At this point the Gods cursed the House of Atreus and one cannot blame them.

Atreus' sons were Menelaus of Mycenae who married Elene (Helen), and Agamemnon, who married Elene's mortal sister Clytemnestra.

Agamemnon sacrificed his own daughter, Iphigenia, at Aulis for wind to Troy. Subsequently, Clytemnestra took up with Aegisthis, Agamemnon's nephew, (incestuous child of Thyestes and his own daughter, born as a revenger for his father) and together they killed Agamemnon when he came home from Troy.

Aphrodite

of Cyprus, `the Stranger', goddess of erotic love, also known as Ishtar

Apollo

the Archer, `Sun Bright', Sun God, patron of Asclepius the Healer

Ares

god of war

Artemis

the virgin hunter

Asclepius

son of Apollo, patron of medicine

Athene

Proncea the virgin, his sister

Attis

the castrated god

Boreas

god to the north wind

The Fates

Clotho - the Spinner, Lachesis - the Measurer, Athropos - who cuts the thread of life

Demeter

the mother goddess

Eos

goddess of dawn

Erinyes

`the kindly ones', `the revengers of blood', the Furies - Tisiphone, Alecko and Mageara

Hephaestus

smith of the gods

Hera

wife of Zeus

Hermes

the messenger and guide of the gods

Hygeia

daughter of Asclepius

Hypnos

god of trance

Morpheus

lord of sleep, brother of Thanatos

Pan

`ageless' lord of forests and goats

Pluton

`the rich one', a title of Hades, god of the underworld and ruler of the dead

Poseidon

`Earth Shaker', `Blue-Haired', god of the sea

Selene

goddess of the moon

Thanatos

`dark angel', lord of death

Zeus

the Father

The Lady Gaia

Mistress of Animals, Snake Lady, one of the Three Women - Maiden, Mother and Crone, who rule ll female principles and breeding, mating, healing, growing and nurture. Her black aspect is Hecate, Destroying Mother, goddess of war

The Lord Dionysius

male principle who rules wine, writing and intelligence, also madness, sex and sacrifice

Apollo

Sun God, aspect of Dionysius

Adonis

the dead god, god of rebirth; known in Egypt as Osiris or Tammuz

Banthos

horse of Glaucus

Pyla

horse of Diomenes

 

Aphrodite yawned and sighed. She stretched, the mossy garment slipping down over her perfect breasts and pearly arms, and shook back her silky hair, long and golden.