Troilus

Troilus was a young Trojan prince, a son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, who was killed by Achilles early in the Trojan War. He is named in the Iliad as one of the sons Priam has lost, and the later poets tell of his death near the sanctuary of Apollo outside Troy.

Family

In the Iliad Priam mourns the best of his sons who are gone, among them “godlike Mestor and Troilus, who fought from his chariot, and Hector, who was a god among men” (Homer, Iliad 24.255–260). Homer does not name Troilus’ mother. Apollodorus lists him among the sons Hecuba bore to Priam, with Deiphobus, Helenus, Pammon, Polites, Antiphus, Hipponous and Polydorus, and adds that she is said to have had Troilus by Apollo (Apollodorus, Library 3.12.5).

The Death of Troilus

Homer does not tell how Troilus died, and he lists him among those Ares has slain (Iliad 24.255–260). The story is told in the epic Cypria, which is now lost; its ancient summary says that Achilles drove off the cattle of Aeneas, sacked Lyrnessus, Pedasus and many neighbouring towns, and killed Troilus (Proclus, summary of the Cypria). Apollodorus gives the fullest surviving account. The Trojans showed no courage in the field, so Achilles lay in wait for Troilus and killed him in the sanctuary of Thymbraean Apollo (Apollodorus, Epitome 3.32).

Virgil shows the scene as a picture on a wall of the temple at Carthage. Troilus, an unhappy boy, no match for Achilles, has lost his weapons and flees; his horses carry him on, and he hangs on his back from the empty chariot, still holding the reins, while his neck and hair are dragged along the ground and the dust is scored by the point of Achilles’ spear (Virgil, Aeneid 1.474–478). Quintus of Smyrna calls him the most handsome of Hecuba’s sons, of whom she had no joy because Achilles took his life (Quintus, Fall of Troy 4). He also says that Thetis gave Troilus’ arms as the prize to Teucer, winner of the archery contest at Achilles’ funeral games (Quintus, Fall of Troy 4).

Troilus and the Death of Achilles

Homer does not connect the two deaths. In the Iliad the dying Hector tells Achilles that Paris and Apollo will destroy him at the Scaean gates (Homer, Iliad 22.355–360), and Apollodorus says that Alexander (Paris) and Apollo shot him in the ankle at the Scaean gate (Apollodorus, Epitome 5.3). None of these accounts presents his death as vengeance for Troilus.

Troilus Sources

Homer, Iliad 24.255–260, 22.355–360; Apollodorus, Library 3.12.5 and Epitome 3.32, 5.3; Virgil, Aeneid 1.474–478; Quintus of Smyrna, Fall of Troy, book 4; Proclus’ summary of the Cypria.

See Also: Achilles, Trojan War, Hecuba, Apollo, Priam, Hector, Paris