Cassandra e le altre fanciulle. Miti e riti

Abstract

The rite involving the Daunian maidens that Lycophron describes in his Alexandra is to be analyzed in the light of its relationships with the character of Cassandra and her role as a mythological paradigm for a failed gamos. In the circular architecture of Lycophron’s narrative, the rite of the Daunian maidens and the rite of the Locrian maidens are both meant to commemorate Cassandra’s destiny by evoking the events that she identifies as the very reasons for her own misfortunes: her refusal to marry Apollo and the violence that Ajax inflicted on her. In both cases, the girls are expected to embrace a statue: whereas the Locrian maidens embrace Athena’s statue in memory of Cassandra’s rape by Ajax, the Daunian girls embrace Cassandra’s image as if this gesture was meant as a warning against the dangers of a failed gamos. These parallel and complementary rites are meant to enact the very events that should be avoided if one wants to guarantee the safe access of the virgins to their new condition of wives.

Keywords

• Cassandra
• Daunia
• gamos
• Lycophron