What moral does the story of Cassandra give? I saw you say that there is a theme or a message in greek myths, so just curious. Plus, what would have happened if cassandra had accepted apollo and not been cursed?
I don’t know with what intention the story of Cassandra was written that way by the ancients (they saw things very differently) but to me, the story of Cassandra tells you two things 1) Promise only if you can follow or don’t promise at all and 2) Fate is simply powerful and has it’s way no matter what.
1) “Make promises to no one” is a Delphic maxim. What it probably means, is that don’t make a promise you can’t keep. Or that when you make a promise, there’s a chance that you’ll break it, which is punishable, so don’t go around making promises. Apollo, as the God of truth, would definitely value promises a lot, and would be infuriated when someone would break it. Now, I know there are versions that say Cassandra got the gift of prophecy by snakes when she slept in a temple and Apollo cursed her when she rejected Him later. But I go with the one where she promises to be His lover in exchange for the gift of prophecy, and then breaks her promise and gets cursed, because it doesn’t seem like Apollo to curse her for just rejecting Him. I mean, there are people who plainly rejected Him and didn’t get cursed (Bolina, Cyrene in later days, Marpessa). So why would Apollo curse Cassandra without a reason? This same type of behavior can be seen in the story of Cumaean Sibyl too, where the same story repeats - she promises herself to Him, gets the gift, rejects Him and Apollo finds a loophole and curses her. (And no, there is no other version for this. Sibyl did break her promise) So, I think the entire story of Cassandra is to emphasize on the importance of a promise, and the horrible circumstances that one can face upon breaking one, especially when it’s given to a God.
2) This is seen through the Iliad actually. Ultimately, what’s specifically written in the fate is what happens. See, now Cassandra had the gift of foresight, and with that, she could have effectively stopped the fall of Troy. But no. Troy was fated to fall. It had to. And Cassandra getting cursed is just the fate making sure no one comes in it’s way. Apollo was only a medium. The way destiny has monopoly over everyone is also seen in the case of warriors like Hector, Achilles, Patroclus. They died when they had to, not before, not later. Poseidon even says that He rescued Aeneas in spite of him being on the enemy side only because Aeneas was fated to live and become a great king. So, Cassandra’s curse and Apollo’s behavior makes more sense when you see it this way. It happened because it was predestined.
What would have happened if Cassandra had accepted Apollo and not been cursed? - I really don’t think that the destiny of Troy would have changed. If anything, Cassandra would have probably lead a better life after the destruction of her family and Troy. She was given away as a gift and later assaulted and raped and killed brutally :-(( Perhaps, if she had accepted Apollo as her lover, I think she would have had His protection. I’m not saying Apollo would have 100% protected her, but there was a high chance, Apollo is of the type who would help His lovers. And if, by their love, Cassandra had got pregnant, then Apollo would not have let any harm come to her at least until the birth of their child. And who knows, Cassandra could have lead a better life after that. Or a worse life. It’s not possible for me to give an accurate answer that is outside my imagination.
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