character
Cassandra
Someone whose accurate warnings are doomed to be ignored.
Origin
A Trojan princess and priestess of Apollo. The god gave her the gift of prophecy in exchange for her love; when she refused him, he cursed her so that no one would ever believe her. She foresaw the fall of Troy โ including the trick of the wooden horse โ and was dismissed every time.
Modern usage
'A Cassandra' is the analyst, scientist, or insider whose warnings about a coming disaster (a crash, a pandemic, a security flaw) are waved off until it's too late. Risk and policy writing leans on it constantly.
In the wild
The 2008 Cassandras were mocked in 2006 and lionized in 2009.โ financial journalism
Tags
prophecy
warning
ignored