Cassandra in Reverse

by Holly Smale

Melpomene—a philodendron—which thrives in the dark just like the goddess of tragedy, as does my bird of paradise, Urania (the Muse of astronomy). Terpsichore (the goddess of dance) is a fern that rustles when the window is open, and Aphrodite is the string of hearts hanging by my bed. My snake plant is obviously called Medusa, my pothos is called Pothos (son of Eros), and I’d go on, but at this point people normally ask me not to.

In Greek mythology, Iris is the goddess of rainbows: the human personification of the spectrum, who uses the symbol of the rainbow to link the gods to humanity, sky to earth.