# Scene III explained — Troilus and Cressida

> Chapter companion for Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare.

## What happens

Paris reminds Troilus that the hour for delivering Cressida to the Greek Diomedes is near. Troilus agrees to fetch her, vowing that delivering her is like a priest offering his own heart on an altar. Paris expresses sympathy, and the lords enter Pandarus' house.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Betrayal

Troilus' painful duty to deliver Cressida to the Greeks underscores the tension between personal love and political betrayal.

## Character check-ins

### Troilus

Agrees to bring Cressida to Diomedes, likening the act to a sacrificial offering of his own heart.

### Paris

Urges Troilus to hasten Cressida's delivery and expresses sympathy for his brother's love.

### Aeneas

Present among the lords entering Pandarus' house.

### Diomedes

The Greek to whom Cressida is to be delivered; present as the exchange approaches.

## Key lines

> And to his hand when I deliver her, Think it an altar, and thy brother Troilus A priest there offering to it his own heart.

When I hand her over to Diomedes, imagine it as a sacred altar where I, like a priest, sacrifice my own heart.

_Troilus uses religious imagery to express the profound personal cost of surrendering Cressida._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/troilus_and_cressida_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-iii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/troilus_and_cressida_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/troilus_and_cressida_se/chapters