How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Of my origins, I know only the stories my mother told me; and she did not speak often of the past. When I was small, she would, when allowed to come to my bedside, tell me softly of her nation; but when I was seven or eight years of age, she spake no more of it, and if I asked, told me that I was fast becoming a man, and men have no need of mothers' tales. (1.8.1)
If this paragraph tugs at your heartstrings, then you're right where Octavian wants you. You're supposed to feel sorry for Octavian because he's basically denied a solid knowledge of his real family and ancestry. We'll just point out though that what follows this paragraph is an extensive, detailed story of his mother's origins. So she does manage to tell him a fair amount, though the truth of it is questionable (it includes a throne made out of an orchid).
Quote #2
My mother was a princess of the Egba people in the Empire of Oyo, in western Africa. She told me of the royal throne where she sate, crowned, while her father dispensed law to the people of that country: her throne a single orchid, grown vast through the influence of the tropical heat and rain. (1.8.2)
So… Octavian's mother used to be a princess in a part of western Africa. Sounds believable, right? And she used to sit on a throne, made of one huge, tropical orchid… Wait—is she telling Octavian the truth? Because we're pretty sure that even the hugest, craziest monster orchid isn't going to be big enough to support the weight of a human being, even if that human being is a small child.
Quote #3
There, in Oyo, she lived in a blissful state with her brothers and sisters, the royal family; and there, in the palace of orchids, she fell in love with a prince from a neighboring state when he came to pay respects to her father.
The marriage of princess and prince, both struck with love, would have proceeded unhindered—for my grandfather the King approved the match—had a prince of another kingdom not jealously desired my mother. […]
My mother was snatched from my father; they were parted amidst smoke and the weeping of women; and she was dragged away. My father was slain. The rival brought her before him, and demanded she offer her hand in marriage. She refused, and said she would sooner die than submit to his loathsome caresses. He kept her for some weeks, and then, seeing that she would not capitulate, sent her off to the coast in exile. (1.8.2-5)
It is impossible to know the truth of Cassiopeia's origin, but what matters more than whether she was a princess or not is the fact that she gives such a grand history to Octavian. In doing so, she offers him a family history of power and worth, which stands in stark contrast to his personal history of being born into slavery.