Birds

Birds symbolise the future in the novel. They first appear when Creusa is trapped within the burning wreck of Troy, and in this instance they foreshadow her death, flying over her like carrion crows or vultures circling above their prey. Later, Cassandra watches birds snatching fish from the sea, symbolising the imminent deportation of the surviving Trojan women. Cassandra’s fixation on the birds, her enjoyment of their predictable patterns of behaviour, is a further indicator of their association with the future.

Fire

Fire symbolises many different ideas in this novel, but primarily destruction: it is a fire that leaves the great city of Troy a “blackened city” after its sack by the Greeks (30). In Greek mythology, fire also symbolises humanity, and knowledge. Indeed, the only two creatures who can wield fire are gods and humans. In the Trojan War, the destructive fire of humanity -...