Despite his resolve to avoid romantic entanglements, the poor Trojan prince Troilus falls in love with the beautiful Criseyde. After a brief affair, the lovers are separated when Criseyde is sent to the Greek camp and betrays Troilus by falling in love with the Greek Diomede. Heartbroken, Troilus fights to his death at the hand of Achilles. Finally, Troilus ascends to the eighth sphere, set aside in Heaven for pagan heroes. From here he sees the instability of earthly passions compared with the architecture of the divine. Chaucer's mastery of the rime royal stanza exemplified in this composition helps date it circa 1380.