Troilus is a young Trojan prince and a legendary character associated with the story of the Trojan War. He was regarded as a paragon of youthful male beauty and the epitome of a dead child mourned by his parents.
Myth[]
In Dares, Troilus is described as "great and most beautiful... brave and strong for his age, and eager for glory." He kills many Greeks, wounds Achilles and Menelaus, defeats the Myrmidons more than once before his horse falls and traps him, and Achilles takes the opportunity to end his life. Later versions of the story suggested Troilus was accidentally killed by Achilles in an over-ardent lovers' embrace. Memnon rescues the body, something that did not happen in many later versions of the tale. Troilus' death occurs near the end of the war, not at its beginning. It was in reaction to Troilus' death that Hecuba plots the murder of Achilles.