Troilus and Cressida · Chapter
Scene III explained
In the Greek camp, Agamemnon and Nestor discuss the state of war and the undermining of their authority by Thersites.
What happens
In the Greek camp, Agamemnon and Nestor discuss the state of war and the undermining of their authority by Thersites. Aeneas arrives as a herald from Troy, delivering Hector's challenge to any Greek who dares to fight him in single combat to prove his lady's worth. After Aeneas leaves, Ulysses and Nestor devise a plan to use the challenge to humble Achilles by having Ajax chosen as Hector's opponent instead.
Themes in this chapter
Honor and Glory
Hector's challenge is framed as a test of honor and love, while Ulysses manipulates the situation to control who gains glory.
Deception and Manipulation
Ulysses and Nestor conspire to use Ajax as a pawn to undermine Achilles' pride, revealing the political cunning within the Greek camp.
Order and Disorder
The Greek command struggles with internal dissent and pride, threatening the order of their military hierarchy.
Characters to notice
- Agamemnon
Greek commander who welcomes Aeneas and accepts Hector's challenge on behalf of the Greeks.
- Nestor
Aged Greek commander who initially offers to fight Hector himself, then supports Ulysses' plan to use Ajax.
- Ulysses
Greek strategist who proposes using Ajax to counter Achilles' pride and prevent him from gaining glory.
- Aeneas
Trojan prince and herald who delivers Hector's challenge to the Greek camp.
- Achilles
Proud Greek warrior who is the target of Ulysses' scheme to humble him by sidelining him from the combat.
- Ajax
Greek warrior whom Ulysses and Nestor plan to put forward as Hector's opponent to diminish Achilles.
- Menelaus
Greek commander who is asked to look at the trumpet call announcing Aeneas' arrival.
- Hector
Trojan prince who issues a challenge to the Greeks to prove his lady's beauty and his own valor.
Key passages
“They tax our policy, and call it cowardice, Count wisdom as no member of the war, Forestall prescience, and esteem no act But that of hand”
They criticize our strategy as cowardice, dismissing wisdom as irrelevant to war, and only value physical action.
Ulysses laments that the Greeks undervalue strategic planning in favor of brute force.
“If there be one among the fair’st of Greece That holds his honour higher than his ease, That seeks his praise more than he fears his peril, That knows his valour, and knows not his fear, That loves his mistress more than in confession”
If any Greek values honor over comfort, seeks glory over safety, knows his courage without fear, and truly loves his lady more than words can express.
Aeneas delivers Hector's challenge, calling for a Greek champion who embodies true love and valor.
“Blunt wedges rive hard knots: the seeded pride That hath to this maturity blown up In rank Achilles must or now be cropp’d, Or, shedding, breed a nursery of like evil, To overbulk us all.”
Simple tools can split tough knots: the deep-rooted pride that has grown in arrogant Achilles must be cut down now, or it will spread and overwhelm us all.
Ulysses proposes a plan to humble Achilles before his pride becomes uncontrollable.
“If the dull brainless Ajax come safe off, We’ll dress him up in voices: if he fail, Yet go we under our opinion still That we have better men.”
If the stupid Ajax succeeds, we will praise him loudly; if he fails, we can still claim we have better warriors.
Ulysses outlines the cynical strategy of using Ajax as a tool to manage perceptions of Greek strength.
