Each book begins with a small poem, addressed to different Gods to offer good will for what is to come. The first book opens with a poem to a Fury, Tisiphone, as a prayer for the lovers who will soon be introduced. The poem also forewarns the reader of the "double sorrow" that Troilus will experience; thus we know from the beginning their love is doomed to fail. The setting is the Trojan War, inside the walls of Troy with the Greeks camped outside to siege them. The soothsayer Calchas foresees that the Greeks will take Troy. With this knowledge, he deserts the Trojans and joins the Greek camp. He leaves behind a daughter, Criseyde, who is now vulnerable as a young, unmarried maiden by herself in the city. She seeks the protection of Hector, a Trojan prince and son of King Priam. Troilus is the brother of Hector and serves as a soldier in the Trojan army.