Captains Coroebus

There are bad relationships.

Then there is being Cassandra’s boyfriend.

In the second book of the Aeneid, the one in which Aeneas reluctantly describes the fall of Troy, he assembles a band of doomed warriors — not to win, but to take as many of the bastards with him as possible.

Among this group, and possibly the youngest of them, is a lad named Coroebus of Mygdonia.

He came to Troy to support the Trojan cause and was unfortunate enough to be there the day Troy fell.

Even more unfortunate was that he also fell for Cassandra, the notorious Trojan princess whose prophecies were doomed to be ignored.

Cassandra, of course, does not favor the idea of this engagement, but because she is Cassandra, she is ignored.

Her father, King Priam of Troy, thinks this is a fantastic idea, or at least suitably pragmatic for a nation at war.

Now Coroebus is caught up in the web of doom that is spun around the citadel of Ilium.

But the story of Coroebus is not just that of an unlucky soul caught up in these events; he is also a font of terrible ideas.

Which I suppose makes him thematically appropriate to be attached to Cassandra.

When Aeneas and his suicidal band succeed in ambushing a bunch of Greeks, Coroebus is the one who suggests that they strip the corpses of their armor and pretend to be those Greeks.

By this deception they forfeit the protection of the Olympian gods who favor Troy. Ultimately this leads to the party’s doom.

There’s nothing in the Aeneid about it, but this bit of ill judgment is suggestive of Apollo’s interference, perhaps by inspiring Cassandra to utter a prophecy which must be ignored. The Far-Shooter does not take rivals to his affection lightly. Even the lovers whom Apollo favors tend to meet with misfortune.

The influence of a malevolent god is further suggested by Coroebus’ impetus to action.

He sees Ajax — the surviving Ajax — dragging away his love, Cassandra, from the altar. He rushes in but he is no Ajax, just as the other Ajax was no Achilles.

Cassandra, however, goes off stage to later appear in the bloodbath of the Agamemnon.

Several of the party perish at the hands of fellow Trojans, who have mistaken them for Greeks.

Aeneas, because he is the main character destined for a great fate, survives to be traumatized by the death of all the named members of party, and then wisely runs away before Neoptolemus, worst of the Achaeans, shows up.

Aeneas goes on to some level of glory, whereas poor Coroebus is forgotten, even in the story of his fiancée!