What Role Does Cassandra Play In Agamemnon

There are many characters in the play Agamemnon by Aeschylus and they are all important in their own ways. One of the characters is Cassandra, a seer who was brought back with Agamemnon after Troy’s defeat. At first Cassandra seems like a minor character since she does not speak much, but as the play progresses, her character develops and she starts to play a larger role in the play. Cassandra is used by Aeschylus to a great extent. She and her supernatural powers help to make the audience feel more sympathetic and also bring their attention to the gender roles in society. Cassandra is also known for her foreshadowing of events, which in turn create a more mysterious mood. Her foreshadowing also includes important symbols and imagery which
That curse causes a lot of mystery and irony whenever Cassandra attempts to tell a prophecy and that makes the play more interesting. When Cassandra first meets the Chorus, she has a vision of the near future. In her vision she too is confused and starts asking questions to discover more, “What is this new and huge /stroke of atrocity she plans within the house /to beat down the beloved beyond hope of healing?” (1101). We as the audience know what is going on. We know that Clytemnestra is planning on murdering Agamemnon since he had sacrificed their innocent daughter just for favourable winds for war. However, the Chorus has no idea what is happening. They are so distracted with the return of Agamemnon and are blinded by his greatness to the extent that they do not realize what is happening in the house and “can make nothing of these prophecies.” (1105). One good that does come out of Cassandra’s prophecies is that they let the Chorus know something is coming at them. The Chorus leader himself claims “I am not proud in skill to guess at prophecies, /yet even I can see the evil in this thing.” (1130). This creates a mysterious mood due to the confusion in the Chorus’ lines as well as the tricky speech patterns in Cassandra’s lines due to Apollo’s curse. For the audience, the suspenseful part was when Cassandra revealed that she will die soon. At first the Chorus does not understand what she said but when Cassandra tells them, they do not believe her. Along with suspense, there is irony. The purpose of a Chorus is to keep everyone informed about what is happening and perhaps foreshadow events, but that is not the case here. The Chorus is clueless as to what is happening. They do not realize that their king is about to be murdered by the queen! Secondly, we have Cassandra, a prophetess who has the ability to see the past and