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Troilus
A prince of Troy. The younger brother of Hector and Paris, he is a valiant warrior and an honorable man. He is also desperately in love with Cressida.
Read an in-depth analysis of Troilus.
Cressida
A beautiful young Trojan woman. The daughter of Calchas, a Trojan priest who defected to the Greek camp, she becomes Troilus’s lover.
Read an in-depth analysis of Cressida.
Hector
A prince of Troy. The greatest warrior on the Trojan side, and matched in might only by Achilles himself, he is a hero to his entire city and is respected even by his enemies.
Ulysses
One of the Greek commanders. A highly intelligent, even philosophical man, he is renowned for his cunning.
Read an in-depth analysis of Ulysses.
Pandarus
Cressida’s uncle. He serves as a go-between for Troilus and Cressida, acting as a kind of cheerful, bawdy pimp for his niece.
Read an in-depth analysis of Pandarus.
Thersites
A deformed fool in Ajax’s service. He has a vicious, abusive tongue, but his commentary on the action of the play is balanced and incisive.
Read an in-depth analysis of Thersites.
Achilles
The greatest of the Greek warriors. He is also an arrogant, vicious thug, who refuses to fight in the war whenever his pride is injured.
Ajax
A Greek warrior. He is as proud as Achilles, but less intelligent and less skilled in battle.
Agamemnon
The Greek general, and the elder brother of Menelaus.
Diomedes
A Greek commander who seduces Cressida.
Paris
A prince of Troy. His theft of Menelaus’s wife, Helen, precipitated the Trojan War.
Menelaus
A Greek commander, Agamemnon’s brother, and the abandoned husband of Helen.
Helen
Menelaus’s wife. Her elopement with Paris led to the Trojan War.
Calchas
A Trojan priest, and Cressida’s father. He defected to the Greeks in the early days of the war.
Aeneas
A Trojan commander.
Nestor
The oldest of the Greek commanders.
Cassandra
A Trojan princess and prophetess. She is considered mad.
Patroclus
A Greek warrior. Achilles’s best friend—and, it is suggested, his lover.
Priam
The king of Troy and the father of Hector, Paris, and Troilus, among others.
Antenor
A Trojan commander, he is exchanged for Cressida after his capture by the Greeks.
Helenus
A prince of Troy.
Andromache
Hector’s wife.
