Priam, King of Troy.
Æneas, a Trojan Warrior.
Pandarus, Uncle to Cressida.
Calchas, a Trojan Priest, and Father to Cressida, a fugitive to the Grecian camp.
| Agamemnon, Ulysses, Achilles, Ajax, Nestor, Diomedes, Patroclus, Menelaus, | } } } } } } } } | Grecian Warriors, engaged in the siege of Troy. |
Thersites, a slanderous Buffoon.
Cressida, Daughter to Calchas.
Andromache, Wife to Hector.
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
ACT I.
SCENE I.—A Camp.
Enter Agamemnon, Ulysses, Diomedes, and Nestor.
Agam. Princes, it seems not strange to us, nor new,
That, after nine years siege, Troy makes defence,
Since every action of recorded fame
Has with long difficulties been involved,
Not answering that idea of the thought,
Which gave it birth; why then, you Grecian chiefs,
With sickly eyes do you behold our labours,
And think them our dishonour, which indeed
Are the protractive trials of the gods,
To prove heroic constancy in men?
Nest. With due observance of thy sovereign seat,
Great Agamemnon, Nestor shall apply
Thy well-weighed words. In struggling with misfortunes
Lies the true proof of virtue: On smooth seas,
How many bauble-boats dare set their sails,
And make an equal way with firmer vessels!
But let the tempest once enrage that sea,
And then behold the strong-ribbed argosie,
Bounding between the ocean and the air,
Like Perseus mounted on his Pegasus.
270 Then where are those weak rivals of the main?
Or, to avoid the tempest, fled to port,
Or made a prey to Neptune. Even thus
Do empty show, and true-prized worth, divide
In storms of fortune.