Troy's princess, Cassandra, wasn't cruel to her soon-to-be sister-in-law, the legendary beauty Helen, out of spite.
It was because she was suffering under the weight of a torturously twisted curse, which haunted her with appalling visions linked to Helen's arrival.
Helen was already married to the Spartan king, Menelaus, after all.
And when Cassandra's brother, Prince Paris, prepared to sail to Sparta, she foresaw his calamitous attachment to Helen and begged him to stay.
But he'd merely dismissed her, fallen for Helen, and returned to Troy with her in tow.
Beset by violent premonitions, Cassandra then warned that Menelaus's vengeful crusade would lead to the brutal fall of their family and the city of Troy.
But once again, people ignored her.
In fact, they always did, and this was the crux of her curse.
As a young woman, she had been pursued by the god Apollo.
He offered her the gift of prophecy.
