"Cassandra, the daughter of King Priam of Troy, is cursed with the gift of true prophecies that are not believed by anyone. In conversations with her brothers and sisters, Cassandra foretells the fall of Troy should Paris bring Helen as his wife, as well as the death of several of Troy's own heroes and her family. The classic myth of Cassandra turns into much more in Lesia Ukrainka's rendering: Cassandra's prophecies are uttered in highly poetic language-fitting to the genre of the dramatic poem that Ukrainka crafts for this work-and are not believed for that very reason, rather than because of Apollo's curse. Cassandra's being a poet and a woman are therefore the two focal points of the drama. 'Cassandra' encapsulates the general qualities and complexities of Ukrainka's late works: her use of classical mythology and her intertextual practice, her intense focus on issues of colonialism and cultural subjugation (thus providing an allegorical reading of the asymmetric relationship of Ukrainian and Russian culture), a sharp commentary on patriarchy and the subjugation of women, and-especially in this play-the dilemma of the writer-seer who sees the truth and its ominous implications but is, as the archetypal Cassandra, powerless to impart that to her contemporaries and countrymen. Having commanded a significant critical reception upon publication in Ukrainian, this work is also strongly autobiographical and a form of Ukrainka's implicit self-projection into the new Ukrainian cultural canon. Presented here both in Ukrainian and in the contemporary and sophisticated English translation that is attuned to psychological nuance, this bilingual edition of the play is sure to attract the attention of the modern-day reader interested in Ukrainian literature and culture"--