Astra

"I'll kill you and make my cousin proud!"

―Astra to Kassandra, c. 427 BCE^[src]^-[m]

Astra (died 427 BCE) was a Boeotian woman, a cousin of Deianeira, one of the Champions of Boeotia, and a member of the Heroes of the Cult branch of the Cult of Kosmos.

Biography[]

Throughout their lives, Astra and Deianeira did everything together. This included sparring with the brothers Timon and Abreas when they were young.

When they grew up and Deianeira became famous as a champion of Boeotia, she and the rest of the champions allied with Athens' Delian League. Abreas spoke against the alliance, accusing the champions of betraying Boeotia. Subsequently Deianeira lured Abreas to their old sparring grounds and killed him with Astra's help. Following this, Astra wore a necklace Timon had made Abreas earlier. She withdrew with guards of the Cult of Kosmos to her training grounds on the northern shoreline of Lake Kopais.^[1]

The Spartan misthios Kassandra learned of Astra from Abreas' brother Timon, who asked Kassandra to assassinate Astra in retribution. Kassandra did as asked, retrieving Abreas' necklace from her corpse. Following Astra's death, Deianeira recovered her corpse and brought it back to her dwelling within the depths of the Cave of the Oracle in the Reborn Hills and sat beside it in grief.^[2]

Trivia[]

Astra and Deianeira's relationship is described as being very close, doing everything together, exchanging gifts and being lost without each other. Whether this relationship was merely platonic, or they were a couple is unclear.