Princess Kassandra of Troy is the story's protagonist, and it is told from her perspective. It begins when an elderly Kassandra tiredly agrees to correct the Homeric version of the Trojan War that is told by a traveling minstrel. Kassandra recounts her life experiences at Troy and Colchis, how she came to balk at the gender roles dictated by Trojan culture, and her inner turmoil over whether she should be serving the Goddess or Apollo.
In her early years, Kassandra is known among her family as the "clever girl," while her older sister Polyxena is the "proper, modest", and "pretty one". Her parents intend for Kassandra to be brought up as a lady and to eventually marry a nobleman—to her gradual displeasure. She often comes into conflict with her father, King Priam, who is characterized as cruel, violent, and power-hungry. Queen Hecuba and Kassandra are not close; the queen often disparages her daughter for her prophecies. Though Hecuba grew up as an Amazon, she gradually adopted patriarchal Trojan customs as her own.
The warrior Hector is close to their sister Polyxena, and is described by Kassandra as a bully. He disapproves of Kassandra's desire to be a warrior, but he is much loved in the city. As an adult, Kassandra reflects, "of all [Priam and Hecuba's children], Hector was closest to their hearts, and [she] the least loved. Was it only that she had always been so different from the others?" Kassandra is happiest when she travels with the Amazons, whose chief Penthesilea becomes a mother figure for Kassandra.
Hector's wife, Andromache, is the elder daughter of Queen Imandra; despite Colchis' matriarchal culture Andromache is content to adopt Trojan culture and be subservient to her husband. She and Kassandra become close, as does Kassandra with Helen, despite her initial distaste for the problems Helen brings to Troy. Despite being her twin, Paris dislikes Kassandra. Early in the story, Bradley writes that Paris' main character flaw is "a total lack of interest in anything that did not relate to himself or contribute in some way to his own comfort and satisfaction."
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