- "With an excellent head for strategy, nerves of steel, and a commanding presence, he'd quickly climbed the ranks."
- —Description of Crassus Snow[src]
Crassus Xanthos Snow was the father of Coriolanus Snow and a general during the Dark Days.[1]
Quick Answers
What role did Crassus Snow play in the First Rebellion?
How did Crassus Snow, Coriolanus Snow's father, die?
What was Crassus Snow remembered for by his son, Coriolanus?
Who was Crassus Snow's companion at the Academy and University?
Why was Crassus Snow honored on National Heroes Day?
Biography[]
School years[]
Crassus attended the Academy and the University with Casca Highbottom, who would later go on to become the Dean of the Academy. The two were best friends and would go to Pluribus Bell's nightclub every night.[2] However, their friendship only lasted until the end of their time in the University, when they had a major falling-out.[3] Both of them studied under Dr. Volumnia Gaul. Highbottom was failing Gaul's class due to his loathing of her, which made it impossible for him to willingly participate in her classes.[4]
Gaul assigned her students a final project: to create a punishment for one's enemies so extreme that they would never be allowed to forget how they had wronged them. Crassus paired up with Highbottom for the project, getting him more and more drunk to draw out his darkest impulses - which led to the idea of the Hunger Games. He assured Highbottom that the whole thing was just a private joke, but then turned in the project to Dr. Gaul while Highbottom was sleeping off the alcohol. Having heard his idea had been submitted by Crassus, Highbottom confronted his best friend in Bell's nightclub. Crassus, instead of admitting his mistake, told Highbottom that he should be grateful because he did them a big favor. Highbottom never forgave him for his betrayal.[4]
Later life[]
Stained glass set piece of Crassus with soldiers lined up behind him.[5]
At some point, Crassus took a wife, and they had their son Coriolanus five years before the Dark Days. Crassus enlisted as a Peacekeeper, believing that military service enhanced his legitimacy in the family business. He quickly climbed the ranks and was[6]
He and his wife conceived a second child, a daughter, sometime before the Dark Days began. His wife went into labor in the early months of the war, and she died in childbirth alongside the baby.
Death[]
Not long after the death of his wife, Crassus was killed by a rebel bullet, leaving Coriolanus an orphan.[7] In The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Crassus was killed by rebels in the woods outside District 12.[8]
Legacy[]
General Snow was honored on December 15, National Heroes Day, along with around a dozen other Capitol citizens.[1] Crassus owned a dress shirt, which he wore along with a suit and various medals he had won. This was later altered by his niece, Tigris, so Coriolanus could wear it to the reaping for the 10th Hunger Games.[9]
During the Games, Coriolanus exposed snake mutts to the scent of his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, by dropping his father's handkerchief into their tank. He knew they would not attack a familiar scent,[10] so this saved her life when the snakes were released into the Capitol Arena the following day.[11] The handkerchief was one of three pieces of evidence used to condemn Coriolanus for cheating to help Lucy Gray win.[12]
Physical description[]
Coriolanus standing below a stained glass portrait of his father.
The Grandma'am said Coriolanus had his father's pale blue eyes.[13]
In the film adaptation, Crassus was depicted in stained glass portraits with short, slicked-back platinum blond or gray hair and blue eyes. A photograph on his son's desk showed him wearing a dark, double-breasted blazer[8] that may have been his military uniform.
Personality and traits[]
Crassus Snow was known to have an excellent head for strategy and nerves of steel. He was also remote and strict, which was why Coriolanus never felt great love for him, but he had always felt protected.[6] However, Pluribus Bell described him and Casca Highbottom to be "a pair of wild things" while at the nightclub in their university years.[2] Highbottom sees Crassus as morally corrupt, as he cared about his grade far more than he cared about the cruelty and carnage the Hunger Games would bring. It is possible that similar to his best friend Highbottom, he was also failing Gaul’s class due to their wild attitude, leading to his ruthless decision in their final project.[4]
Coriolanus remembered him for his deep voice and uncompromising words against the districts.[1] Tigris said that what she remembered most about him was the hate in his eyes.[8]
Family[]
Stained glass set piece of Crassus with his wife and infant son.[5]
Crassus Snow was the son of the Grandma'am, the husband of Mrs. Snow, and the father of Coriolanus Snow and an unnamed infant daughter.[7]
Etymology[]
Crassus is the name of a Roman politician and general who was a member of the “First Triumvirate”, alongside Pompey and Caesar. He was also known as the richest man in Rome.
His middle name, Xanthos, means yellow, blond, or fair-haired.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 12
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 11
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 23
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Epilogue
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://twitter.com/panempropaganda/status/1724142612217762008
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 3
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 5
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 1
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 18
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 19
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 20
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 6