By the Gods!

Cassandra

Cassandra was the daughter of Priam (King of Troy at the time of the Trojan War) and had the gift of foresight. Trouble with prophets is that the line between “false prophet” and “prophet” is near invisible, and no one paid her soothsayings much mind. So, even though she told her mother, father and family about the evils that were about to befall the city of Troy (thanks to Paris’ stupidity) no one believed her. Some say that Apollo was entranced by her beauty and bestowed upon her the gift of foresight, others say she fell asleep in Apollo’s temple one night and snakes licked her ears clean so she could hear the future. I can’t decide whether or not to be turned on by that.

Cassandra did not return Apollo’s love, (and as we all know, spurning the Greek gods is always a good idea) and so he cursed her so that no one would believe her prophecies. Apparently this curse was achieved by Apollo spitting in her mouth. That’s cold.

After the war, Cassandra was abducted and raped by Ajax the lesser, and then taken away to be Agamemnon’s concubine. When the pair returned to Mycenae, Clytemnestra (Agamemnon’s wife) and Aegisthus (Agamemnon’s nephew/cousin—the family tree gets a little messy) killed them both. Rotten luck; it all could have been avoided if Cassandra had returned Apollo’s love. A pity her foresight was so selective, or she could’ve avoided all that mess.