CAssandra as a Muse Podcast Project – Script Two

Lily

What is classical reception? 

To what ends and to what extent can we stretch the concept of reception? 

How does the way that Cassandra is received, change the essence of her myth?

These questions… and more… will be the focus of our discussion in this episode. 

Please be advised. This episode makes mention of sexual assault, rape, murder, and physical assault. Listener discretion is advised. If any of these themes are not something you feel you can listen to, please feel free to skip this episode. 

[Intro Music – TBD]

Lily

Welcome back to our discussion of Cassandra. In this episode, we will be discussing Cassandra and the ways in which she has been received. In truth, this episode is the crux of the entirety of my research as well as our discussion. But before we get into what that means, I think it is important that I outline for you what classical reception studies is and what it entails. 

Reception studies within classics is a newer concept. Not 21st century new, but new compared to pre-existing classical schools of thought. It began development in the 1960s with Hans Robert Jauss, and within more recent decades it gained popularity within the field of classical studies as a counterpoint, but also a companion to the classical tradition. As many fields of study do, classics is evolving. As a field, classics has begun to move away from the elitist and often problematic identity it once had, being that it often catered more towards rich, white, and predominantly male individuals as their path of education. This identity is something that the classical tradition can often perpetuate. 

There is a book written by a Classicist named Shane Butler called, Deep Classics. It is a theory heavy book on the different ways one could discuss classical texts and materials. One of the major takeaways that I had from its introduction was the idea that “nobody owns Homer.” Now what Butler meant by this is that there are no elitist claims over classical texts and materials. There is no gate-keeping so to speak because the texts should be accessible and adaptable by all. Why does this matter? Well, if nobody owns Homer, then the stories of the Iliad and Odyssey can be transformed and adapted into any format imaginable and they would still be viewed as acceptable forms of reception. By stating that nobody owns Homer, we are agreeing that whether the Iliad is being retold through a play, a poem, a painting, or even a heavy metal music song, it is valid.

Now that the history and theoretical portions of our lesson have concluded, let’s dig deeper into why this matters and how it applies to us now. Well for starters, as Michael Broder, a modern classicist puts it, classical reception studies is a field that “encourages creative and independent thought” about modern issues through the vehicle of classical studies. What he means by this is that it is a much more fluid lens to use when consuming classical literature, especially in forms other than original source material. Examples of classical reception could be any of the following, including: books written from the perspective of a character within a myth (think books like Circe or the Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller), TV shows created from book series (think the new Percy Jackson and the Olympians series on Disney+), paintings (think The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli), poems, plays, musicals, and the list goes on. These adaptations of myth are prime examples of classical reception that many of us come across in our lives, so whether you tried to or not, you likely have interacted with the world of classical reception studies. 

I feel the need to express that classical reception, in practice, is not new. Cassandra in particular has been received in many different formats over an extensive period of time. Formats such as painting, drawing, music, narrative, poetry, and dance have all at some point featured the story of Cassandra. Additionally, as we discussed in the previous episode, the epic cycle itself could be considered a form of classical reception due to the use of pre-existing characters within the additions to expand the canon. 

It is not fair to say that there is far less creativity within the classical tradition. Oftentimes the classical tradition is associated with a focus far on fidelity and overall “trueness” to original myths, which in the modern day can be quite suffocating. Truth be told, the classical tradition can appear to be outdated, especially with the emergence of new genres of classical adaptation. The name classical tradition itself connotes this idea of it being static, and unchanging due to a desire to maintain fidelity. 

All of this considered, we are brought to what we will be focusing on today: the different ways in which the story of Cassandra has been adapted throughout history. 

However, As a final side note before we continue, Michael Broder is a strong supporter of classical reception, and his article, “Tradition vs. Reception as models for Studying the Great Books,” is a source to consider reading into if you want to know more about the interaction between classical tradition and classical reception.

Now, on to Cassandra. When one sets out to study classics, there are a variety of avenues available. One of the largest, and most prolific avenues is scholarship. Hundreds of thousands of articles, books, and other peer-reviewed sources have been published on the topic of classical studies. However, while these sources are invaluable in their insights on Cassandra and her story, I want to focus more on alternative adaptations, outside of academic works, that showcase Cassandra and her story. Adaptations that one could consider to be more “creative” than peer reviewed articles and papers. 

Lily: 

As I mentioned earlier, Cassandra has had a long history of adaptation. In future episodes of this series, we will talk about modern adaptations, specifically in popular music. We will discuss the works of ABBA, Florence + the Machine, and Taylor Swift, as these three musical groups all have songs about Cassandra. However, a misconception I want to clear up is that reception studies, as a field of study, does not simply apply to content created since the coining of the term. Rather, it can be applied to pieces of reception from centuries ago. I now want to share with you some of the many different pieces of classical reception within which Cassandra appears over time. 

Starting in chronological order, between 1550 and 1555, Jan Swart van Groningen, a Dutch renaissance painter, drew a depiction of Cassandra, known as “Cassandra Foretelling the Fall of Troy.” In this adaptation of Cassandra, she is the focus of the drawing. She is seen sitting on large pieces of the rubble of Troy, looking on in horror as the destruction begins. Behind her, people flee the city as it burns, with a major explosion occurring behind her. This drawing is not the first of the adaptations of Cassandra that we know of, however it is one of the oldest visual adaptations that has survived to the modern day. Visual meaning non-literary and non-performative. That being said, performance is another vehicle through which myths are retold. 

In 1651, “Cassandre,” a ballet created by Isaac de Benserade was first performed. It was performed for King Louis XIV (the 14th) in Paris during the early years of his reign. There is very little detailing this performance, but considering its connection to Cassandra, it likely was a retelling, through dance, of the story of Cassandra. It would have been performed before the royal court and was likely a lavish event to attend. One could draw a comparison between this performance and the performance of myths through the oral tradition. Much like theater, dance is a popular form of entertainment that tells a story, and in this case it is the story of Cassandra. 

Similar to the ballet, other forms of performance were used to tell the story of Cassandra. One such form is opera and musical performance. In 1711, an opera named “Cassandra indovina,” by Nicola Fago, an Italian composer, was first performed in Italy. Cassandra indovina, in Italian, translates to “Cassandra guesses.” Similar to the ballet, there is very little information that survives about this opera. However, similarly again, it is a retelling of the story of Cassandra. We will discuss musical composition more later, as well as in later episodes of this series, however, it appears that this opera is one of the first musical adaptations of the myth of Cassandra. 

One of the most common genres of reception is painting. Countless paintings have been created over the centuries that depict scenes from myth, and all of these are forms of classical reception. Additionally, there are many artists who would take figures of myth and paint them into a new narrative. What I mean by this is that they would blend two different stories into one painting. One such example of Cassandra would be George Romney’s 1786 painting called “Lady Hamilton as Cassandra.” This painting was created as an allegory to the life of Emma Hamilton, a woman who, like Cassandra, was scrutinized by those around her. This painting is representative of the scope of reception and adaptation in the field of classics. Pieces of reception do not need to stay entirely faithful to the myth, and this allows for artists to incorporate new ideas and takes on myths, even if they are modern. 

Shifting away from the visual adaptations of Cassandra, I want to discuss some literary adaptations of her story. One of the most common literary adaptation formats we often see of Cassandra is poetry. Between the 18th and 19th century, many poems, inspired by Cassandra, were written. One such poem is William Cox Bennett’s “Cassandra Speaks.” “Cassandra Speaks” appears to be written from the perspective of someone who witnessed her prophecies. Much of the poem is in quotation marks which suggests that the words are direct quotes by Cassandra. Filled with invocations to the gods and interjections of panic, it narrates the devastation of Troy and how Cassandra had predicted it all, yet nobody adhered to her warnings. I find that the emergence of poetry as a popular style of adaptation of Cassandra to be unsurprising. Much of Cassandra’s story has been pulled from epic poetry and other forms of creative writing already, and it feels almost natural that she would be represented in this way. Take for example, the Aeneid. Cassandra had already been a well known character from previous epic poems, so Virgil’s decision to include her in his retelling of the fall of Troy is expected. In this light, the Aeneid too is a form of classical reception. 

One final adaptation I want to share with you aligns quite well with the scope of this project: a narrative piece written by Ursule Molinaro in 1979 called, The Autobiography of Cassandra, Princess and Prophetess of Troy. Now, when one thinks of an autobiography, they think instantly of a biography written by the person who the biography is centered around. Obviously, Cassandra was not a real person, so she could never have written this, so the use of the word “autobiography” can be misleading. However, that is the point of this piece. It is supposed to represent Cassandra’s story from the perspective of Cassandra. Not someone who knew her. Not someone who thought they knew her. Her. 

With all of this considered, I hope you can grasp the scope of all the adaptations that Cassandra appears in. It’s not all academic, and it is intended to reach towards a wider audience. In some cases it is for the enjoyment of a literal audience. One major conclusion that we can all pull from the information I have given you is the idea that nobody owns Cassandra. She is not trademarked. She will continue to be an adapted character from the world of Greek mythology. As time goes on her story will be retold in new formats and in new genres, and the same feelings will be evoked alongside newer feelings as her story evolves with us. Whether it is literary, visual, or auditory (like this podcast!) Cassandra’s story lives on and it changes with us. 

In the next three episodes we will discuss Cassandra as she appears in modern popular music. I know we discussed music before with the opera, but through modern music I hope we can come to understand why she has had such a resurgence in more recent decades and why it has been through popular music. In the next episode we will discuss the Swedish pop group, ABBA’s, song Cassandra. We will discuss it in both the context through which it was written as well as its context within the world of Cassandra.

[Cue Outro Music]

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