Cassandra was a princess of Troy. As a child she loved to play with serpents in the temple. They, in turn, bestowed on her the gift of prophesy. However, when Apollo attempted without success to seduce her, the god was so enraged that he decreed that no matter how sincere her predictions, no one would believe her. She remained unmarried. When the Greeks rolled the large wooden horse through the gates and inside the city walls, Cassandra valiantly tried to convince the populace that what appeared to be a gift was truly treachery. They did not believe her, the Greeks devastated Troy , ending one of the epic wars of history.
Rachel loved nature and as a child played in the outdoors, learning about birds and plants at an early age. This interest led to a career as a biologist. She remained unmarried. Farmers considered the development of pesticides and herbicides an incomparable gift in their efforts to produce crops and ensure what they considered the success and prosperity of America . Rachel recognized the potential devastation of the natural world as a result of the widespread use of these chemicals and predicted a "silent spring." She warned "For time is the essential ingredient, but in the modern world there is no time." Her prediction has been largely ignored as our environment becomes less and less able to sustain a broad spectrum of life. |
