Troilus and Cressida

Roles

• Troilus - Young Adult (20-35), Adult (36-50), Male

About this piece

Troilus argues they should not return Helen to the Greeks

Summary

The prologue introduces us to the story. The play is about the Trojan War, the mythological war between Troy and several Greek kings led by Menelaus of Sparta. The war starts when Paris of Troy steals the beautiful Helen from Menelaus. In response, the Spartan king gathers 69 princes from several cities in Greece and attacks Troy in order to rescue Helen. The play starts in the middle of the war, that is 7 years after the war started. In the first ACT we are introduced to the main characters in the Trojan side and Troilus' love for Cressida. The Greek army, led by Agamemnon, is going through a crisis and various commanders, such as Nestor and Ulysses, and Greek kings meet to discuss a plan of action to conquer Troy. Aeneas, a Trojan commander, brings a challenge from Hector, the greatest Trojan warrior. Hector has decided to challenge any Greek soldier in a fight and in case he is defeated, he will give up his wife to whoever he will fight. The Greek commanders choose to send Ajax instead of Achilles (who is considered the greatest Greek warrior), in order to provoke him since he is being lazy and has been avoiding fighting with the Greek army. In the second scene of ACT II, King Priam, Hector, his brother Helenus, Paris and Troilus are discussing if is worth it to keep Helen with them when they could just return her to the Greeks and end the war. When Hector and his sister Cassandra argue that they should just give her back to the Greeks, Troilus responds that he believes they should keep her. They praised Paris in the first place when he came back from Greece with Helen. They considered her a "pearl" and a noble prize. To keep Helen, he argues, is a matter of honor.

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