The cast of Troilus and Cressida
The people who make Troilus and Cressida move — what they want, who they love, who they hate, and how each one fits the story. Tap any name to read more.
Pandarus
Go-between and bawdy uncle; architect of the lovers' affair and its undoing
Cressida
Trojan woman caught between love and survival; the play's emblem of betrayal · Young woman
Troilus
Trojan prince caught between desire and disillusionment; romantic idealist undone by betrayal · Sixteen to twenty years old
Thersites
Deformed Greek scold, satirist, and allowed fool; servant to Ajax
Ulysses
Greek strategist and philosopher; master of rhetoric and political manipulation
Achilles
Greek champion and supreme warrior; lover of Patroclus; agent of Hector's death · Middle-aged
Hector
The noble Trojan champion and defender of Troy; elder son of Priam · 30
Ajax
Greek warrior; a strong but slow-witted commander, praised by flattery, made a rival to Achilles
Diomedes
Greek warrior and pragmatist; instrument of Cressida's betrayal
Agamemnon
Supreme Greek commander; architect of policy and rhetorical persuasion
Aeneas
Trojan herald, warrior, and intermediary between Greeks and Trojans
Nestor
Veteran Greek general and wise counselor; moral voice of reason · Elderly; fought in the generation before the current war
Patroclus
Achilles' companion and voice of reason; the softening force against his pride
Paris
Trojan prince and lover of Helen; pragmatist caught between desire and duty
Helen of Troy
The cause of the Trojan War; a beautiful but morally ambiguous woman at the center of conflict
Servant
Attendant to Paris; minor messenger and functionary
Cassandra
Prophetess and voice of doom; Trojan princess whose warnings are dismissed · Young woman
Menelaus
Cuckolded husband of Helen; Greek commander caught between shame and duty
Alexander
Cressida's attendant; messenger and informant on the battlefield
Andromache
Wife of Hector; voice of domestic dread and prophetic warning
Priam
King of Troy, father to Hector and Troilus; voice of restraint and wisdom · elderly
Hear every line of Troilus and Cressida, narrated.
