Finished: Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare) Though I looked forward to this rendition of their love story, I think this was one of the harder of Shakespeare's plays for me to grasp. I had to re-read things over a few times before I could comprehend what was being said, and sometimes I still didn't comprehend. One line I really liked, though..."To fear the worst oft cures the worse."  When I read The Odyssey, The Iliad and The Aeneid, it was so fascinating to read about the warriors Odysseus (Ulysses), Agamemnon, Aeneas, Achilles, Ajax, Hector, etal., from the different perspectives. I had no idea that Troilus and Cressida was mostly about these same characters!! As we know, Hector and Paris are the famous Trojan brothers, sons of Priam, who went to battle with the Greeks after Paris stole Helen away from her husband, King Menalaus, brother of King Agamemnon. Troilus is another of their brothers, and was supposedly a younger, fiercer, up-and-coming Hector clone. However, Troilus falls in love with Cressida, whose father Calchas is a Trojan priest who has defected from the Trojans and is now in good with the Greeks. Cressida also falls in love with Troilus, and they declare their love for each other, and consummate their love for one night only before Cressida is forced to be traded to the Greeks for a Trojan prisoner. Troilus is beside himself and worries that Cressida will fall to the charms of some Greek warrior. Meanwhile, the honorable Hector has called out the Greeks and says he will do one on one combat with their greatest warrior. Hector is hoping that Achilles will rise to the occasion, but Achilles' ego and pride have kept him in his tent, as he decides he is better resting on the laurels of his former conquests and greatness. He spends most of his time with his rumored loverboy, Patroclus. When Achilles refuses to rise to the challenge, the enormous Ajax says he will fight Hector. However, Hector and Ajax are cousins, and when they go to fight, Hector instead tells Ajax he doesn't want to fight his kin, but can't they embrace one another and dine together. Ulysses, Agamemnon and gang all welcome their rival warrior to dine with them for this one night only because they have a high respect for him. Achilles sizes Hector up and taunts him. Troilus takes this opportunity to go into the Greek camp with his brother and makes his way to where Diomedes, a Greek warrior is calling on Cressida. Troilus sees from the shadows that Cressida tries just a bit to resist, but then she flirts with Diomedes and tells him she will be his. She curses herself for betraying her love to Troilus, but then laments that this is the plight of the woman, to do what she must to survive and make the most of things. A devastated Troilus denounces Cressida and decides he will go into battle the next day with Hector and kill Diomedes. We don't really see too much of Paris or Helen, who this story usually centers around. The next day in battle, Hector is a beast, felling Greeks right and left...one of the casualties being Patroclus. This finally stirs a fire under Achilles and he vows to kill Hector. He confronts Hector at the end of the day, when Hector has put down his sword, and with the help of his minions, Achilles kills a defenseless Hector, and then ties him to the back of his horse and drags him around. :-( It's never clear whether or not Troilus kills Diomedes, but Troilus does come back from battle unharmed, and with everyone else, laments the death of Hector and vows to fight the Greeks until they are all obliterated. Shakespeare had his usual brilliant writing, which at times I could decipher. It was just for some reason harder for me this time. There were a few long speeches where I wasn't sure what was being alluded to, lol. That one line I enjoyed, was uttered by Cressida when she and Troilus were figuring out they loved each other, "To fear the worst oft cures the worse.".