Troilus and Cressida

Troilus and Cressida is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written around 1602. It exists in several Norwegian translations as Troilus og Cressida, by Knut Hergel and by Bjørn Alex Herman.

Synopsis: For 10 years, the Greek army has been encamped outside the walls of Troy. The war is at a deadlock. In particular, Achilles is sulking and refuses to fight. In Troy, prince Troilus tells Pandarus that he is in love with Cressida (daughter of the Trojan Calchas who has deserted to the Greeks) and that the love is reciprocated.

The Trojan prince Hector challenges any Greek to single combat, and the Greek commanders fix it for Ajax to win, in an attempt to make Achilles jealous and provoke him back to battle. The Greeks tell the Trojans that they will lift the siege if the Trojans hand over the Greek princess Helen, whose elopement with Paris of Troy began the war. Hector and Cassandra urge acceptance, but Paris and Troilus insist that the war continue.

Calchas asks Agamemnon to bring his daughter Cressida to the Greek camp, exchanging her for the captured Trojan Antenor. Diamedes performs the exchange, and Cressida is welcomed into the Greek camp. Ajax now accepts Hector's challenge, but Hector stops to fight because he discovers that they are distantly related. To Achilles' fury, the Greeks fete Ajax as a hero.

Ulysses brings Troilus where he can eavesdrop on Cressida flirting with Diamedes, and Troilus vows to kill him. The fighting becomes general, and Hector kills Achilles' friend Patroclus. This finally brings Achilles back into the battle, and he and his soldiers surround Hector and kill him.

Troilus takes news to Troy that the war is continuing as hopelessly as before and that Achilles has tied Hector's corpse to his horse's tale and is dragging it through the dust. The play ends in the same chaos and disillusion as when it started.