Chapter: ACT IV. SCENE 5.
The Grecian camp. Lists set out

Enter AJAX, armed; AGAMEMNON, ACHILLES, PATROCLUS, MENELAUS,
ULYSSES, NESTOR, and others

  AGAMEMNON. Here art thou in appointment fresh and fair,
    Anticipating time with starting courage.
    Give with thy trumpet a loud note to Troy,
    Thou dreadful Ajax, that the appalled air
    May pierce the head of the great combatant,
    And hale him hither.
  AJAX. Thou, trumpet, there's my purse.
    Now crack thy lungs and split thy brazen pipe;
    Blow, villain, till thy sphered bias cheek
    Out-swell the colic of puff Aquilon'd.
    Come, stretch thy chest, and let thy eyes spout blood:
    Thou blowest for Hector.           [Trumpet sounds]
  ULYSSES. No trumpet answers.
  ACHILLES. 'Tis but early days.

                Enter DIOMEDES, with CRESSIDA

  AGAMEMNON. Is not yond Diomed, with Calchas' daughter?
  ULYSSES. 'Tis he, I ken the manner of his gait:
    He rises on the toe. That spirit of his
    In aspiration lifts him from the earth.
  AGAMEMNON. Is this the lady Cressid?
  DIOMEDES. Even she.
  AGAMEMNON. Most dearly welcome to the Greeks, sweet lady.
  NESTOR. Our general doth salute you with a kiss.
  ULYSSES. Yet is the kindness but particular;
    'Twere better she were kiss'd in general.
  NESTOR. And very courtly counsel: I'll begin.
    So much for Nestor.
  ACHILLES. I'll take that winter from your lips, fair lady.
    Achilles bids you welcome.
  MENELAUS. I had good argument for kissing once.
  PATROCLUS. But that's no argument for kissing now;
    For thus popp'd Paris in his hardiment,
    And parted thus you and your argument.
  ULYSSES. O deadly gall, and theme of all our scorns!
    For which we lose our heads to gild his horns.
  PATROCLUS. The first was Menelaus' kiss; this, mine-
                                    [Kisses her again]
    Patroclus kisses you.
  MENELAUS. O, this is trim!
  PATROCLUS. Paris and I kiss evermore for him.
  MENELAUS. I'll have my kiss, sir. Lady, by your leave.
  CRESSIDA. In kissing, do you render or receive?
  PATROCLUS. Both take and give.
  CRESSIDA. I'll make my match to live,
    The kiss you take is better than you give;
    Therefore no kiss.
  MENELAUS. I'll give you boot; I'll give you three for one.
  CRESSIDA. You are an odd man; give even or give none.
  MENELAUS. An odd man, lady? Every man is odd.
  CRESSIDA. No, Paris is not; for you know 'tis true
    That you are odd, and he is even with you.
  MENELAUS. You fillip me o' th' head.
  CRESSIDA. No, I'll be sworn.
  ULYSSES. It were no match, your nail against his horn.
    May I, sweet lady, beg a kiss of you?
  CRESSIDA. You may.
  ULYSSES. I do desire it.
  CRESSIDA. Why, beg then.
  ULYSSES. Why then, for Venus' sake give me a kiss
    When Helen is a maid again, and his.
  CRESSIDA. I am your debtor; claim it when 'tis due.
  ULYSSES. Never's my day, and then a kiss of you.
  DIOMEDES. Lady, a word. I'll bring you to your father.
                                      Exit with CRESSIDA
  NESTOR. A woman of quick sense.
  ULYSSES. Fie, fie upon her!
    There's language in her eye, her cheek, her lip,
    Nay, her foot speaks; her wanton spirits look out
    At every joint and motive of her body.
    O these encounters so glib of tongue
    That give a coasting welcome ere it comes,
    And wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts
    To every ticklish reader! Set them down
    For sluttish spoils of opportunity,
    And daughters of the game.         [Trumpet within]
  ALL. The Troyans' trumpet.

        Enter HECTOR, armed; AENEAS, TROILUS, PARIS, HELENUS,
                 and other Trojans, with attendants

  AGAMEMNON. Yonder comes the troop.
  AENEAS. Hail, all the state of Greece! What shall be done
    To him that victory commands? Or do you purpose
    A victor shall be known? Will you the knights
    Shall to the edge of all extremity
    Pursue each other, or shall they be divided
    By any voice or order of the field?
    Hector bade ask.
  AGAMEMNON. Which way would Hector have it?
  AENEAS. He cares not; he'll obey conditions.
  ACHILLES. 'Tis done like Hector; but securely done,
    A little proudly, and great deal misprizing
    The knight oppos'd.
  AENEAS. If not Achilles, sir,
    What is your name?
  ACHILLES. If not Achilles, nothing.
  AENEAS. Therefore Achilles. But whate'er, know this:
    In the extremity of great and little
    Valour and pride excel themselves in Hector;
    The one almost as infinite as all,
    The other blank as nothing. Weigh him well,
    And that which looks like pride is courtesy.
    This Ajax is half made of Hector's blood;
    In love whereof half Hector stays at home;
    Half heart, half hand, half Hector comes to seek
    This blended knight, half Troyan and half Greek.
  ACHILLES. A maiden battle then? O, I perceive you!

                   Re-enter DIOMEDES

  AGAMEMNON. Here is Sir Diomed. Go, gentle knight,
    Stand by our Ajax. As you and Lord AEneas
    Consent upon the order of their fight,
    So be it; either to the uttermost,
    Or else a breath. The combatants being kin
    Half stints their strife before their strokes begin.
                        [AJAX and HECTOR enter the lists]
  ULYSSES. They are oppos'd already.
  AGAMEMNON. What Troyan is that same that looks so heavy?
  ULYSSES. The youngest son of Priam, a true knight;
    Not yet mature, yet matchless; firm of word;
    Speaking in deeds and deedless in his tongue;
    Not soon provok'd, nor being provok'd soon calm'd;
    His heart and hand both open and both free;
    For what he has he gives, what thinks he shows,
    Yet gives he not till judgment guide his bounty,
    Nor dignifies an impair thought with breath;
    Manly as Hector, but more dangerous;
    For Hector in his blaze of wrath subscribes
    To tender objects, but he in heat of action
    Is more vindicative than jealous love.
    They call him Troilus, and on him erect
    A second hope as fairly built as Hector.
    Thus says Aeneas, one that knows the youth
    Even to his inches, and, with private soul,
    Did in great Ilion thus translate him to me.
                          [Alarum. HECTOR and AJAX fight]
  AGAMEMNON. They are in action.
  NESTOR. Now, Ajax, hold thine own!
  TROILUS. Hector, thou sleep'st;
    Awake thee.
  AGAMEMNON. His blows are well dispos'd. There, Ajax!
                                   [Trumpets cease]
  DIOMEDES. You must no more.
  AENEAS. Princes, enough, so please you.
  AJAX. I am not warm yet; let us fight again.
  DIOMEDES. As Hector pleases.
  HECTOR. Why, then will I no more.
    Thou art, great lord, my father's sister's son,
    A cousin-german to great Priam's seed;
    The obligation of our blood forbids
    A gory emulation 'twixt us twain:
    Were thy commixtion Greek and Troyan so
    That thou could'st say 'This hand is Grecian all,
    And this is Troyan; the sinews of this leg
    All Greek, and this all Troy; my mother's blood
    Runs on the dexter cheek, and this sinister
    Bounds in my father's'; by Jove multipotent,
    Thou shouldst not bear from me a Greekish member
    Wherein my sword had not impressure made
    Of our rank feud; but the just gods gainsay
    That any drop thou borrow'dst from thy mother,
    My sacred aunt, should by my mortal sword
    Be drained! Let me embrace thee, Ajax.
    By him that thunders, thou hast lusty arms;
    Hector would have them fall upon him thus.
    Cousin, all honour to thee!
  AJAX. I thank thee, Hector.
    Thou art too gentle and too free a man.
    I came to kill thee, cousin, and bear hence
    A great addition earned in thy death.
  HECTOR. Not Neoptolemus so mirable,
    On whose bright crest Fame with her loud'st Oyes
    Cries 'This is he' could promise to himself
    A thought of added honour torn from Hector.
  AENEAS. There is expectance here from both the sides
    What further you will do.
  HECTOR. We'll answer it:
    The issue is embracement. Ajax, farewell.
  AJAX. If I might in entreaties find success,
    As seld I have the chance, I would desire
    My famous cousin to our Grecian tents.
  DIOMEDES. 'Tis Agamemnon's wish; and great Achilles
    Doth long to see unarm'd the valiant Hector.
  HECTOR. Aeneas, call my brother Troilus to me,
    And signify this loving interview
    To the expecters of our Troyan part;
    Desire them home. Give me thy hand, my cousin;
    I will go eat with thee, and see your knights.

        AGAMEMNON and the rest of the Greeks come forward

  AJAX. Great Agamemnon comes to meet us here.
  HECTOR. The worthiest of them tell me name by name;
    But for Achilles, my own searching eyes
    Shall find him by his large and portly size.
  AGAMEMNON.Worthy all arms! as welcome as to one
    That would be rid of such an enemy.
    But that's no welcome. Understand more clear,
    What's past and what's to come is strew'd with husks
    And formless ruin of oblivion;
    But in this extant moment, faith and troth,
    Strain'd purely from all hollow bias-drawing,
    Bids thee with most divine integrity,
    From heart of very heart, great Hector, welcome.
  HECTOR. I thank thee, most imperious Agamemnon.
  AGAMEMNON. [To Troilus] My well-fam'd lord of Troy, no less to you.
  MENELAUS. Let me confirm my princely brother's greeting.
    You brace of warlike brothers, welcome hither.
  HECTOR. Who must we answer?
  AENEAS. The noble Menelaus.
  HECTOR. O you, my lord? By Mars his gauntlet, thanks!
    Mock not that I affect the untraded oath;
    Your quondam wife swears still by Venus' glove.
    She's well, but bade me not commend her to you.
  MENELAUS. Name her not now, sir; she's a deadly theme.
  HECTOR. O, pardon; I offend.
  NESTOR. I have, thou gallant Troyan, seen thee oft,
    Labouring for destiny, make cruel way
    Through ranks of Greekish youth; and I have seen thee,
    As hot as Perseus, spur thy Phrygian steed,
    Despising many forfeits and subduements,
    When thou hast hung thy advanced sword i' th' air,
    Not letting it decline on the declined;
    That I have said to some my standers-by
    'Lo, Jupiter is yonder, dealing life!'
    And I have seen thee pause and take thy breath,
    When that a ring of Greeks have hemm'd thee in,
    Like an Olympian wrestling. This have I seen;
    But this thy countenance, still lock'd in steel,
    I never saw till now. I knew thy grandsire,
    And once fought with him. He was a soldier good,
    But, by great Mars, the captain of us all,
    Never like thee. O, let an old man embrace thee;
    And, worthy warrior, welcome to our tents.
  AENEAS. 'Tis the old Nestor.
  HECTOR. Let me embrace thee, good old chronicle,
    That hast so long walk'd hand in hand with time.
    Most reverend Nestor, I am glad to clasp thee.
  NESTOR. I would my arms could match thee in contention
    As they contend with thee in courtesy.
  HECTOR. I would they could.
  NESTOR. Ha!
    By this white beard, I'd fight with thee to-morrow.
    Well, welcome, welcome! I have seen the time.
  ULYSSES. I wonder now how yonder city stands,
    When we have here her base and pillar by us.
  HECTOR. I know your favour, Lord Ulysses, well.
    Ah, sir, there's many a Greek and Troyan dead,
    Since first I saw yourself and Diomed
    In Ilion on your Greekish embassy.
  ULYSSES. Sir, I foretold you then what would ensue.
    My prophecy is but half his journey yet;
    For yonder walls, that pertly front your town,
    Yond towers, whose wanton tops do buss the clouds,
    Must kiss their own feet.
  HECTOR. I must not believe you.
    There they stand yet; and modestly I think
    The fall of every Phrygian stone will cost
    A drop of Grecian blood. The end crowns all;
    And that old common arbitrator, Time,
    Will one day end it.
  ULYSSES. So to him we leave it.
    Most gentle and most valiant Hector, welcome.
    After the General, I beseech you next
    To feast with me and see me at my tent.
  ACHILLES. I shall forestall thee, Lord Ulysses, thou!
    Now, Hector, I have fed mine eyes on thee;
    I have with exact view perus'd thee, Hector,
    And quoted joint by joint.
  HECTOR. Is this Achilles?
  ACHILLES. I am Achilles.
  HECTOR. Stand fair, I pray thee; let me look on thee.
  ACHILLES. Behold thy fill.
  HECTOR. Nay, I have done already.
  ACHILLES. Thou art too brief. I will the second time,
    As I would buy thee, view thee limb by limb.
  HECTOR. O, like a book of sport thou'lt read me o'er;
    But there's more in me than thou understand'st.
    Why dost thou so oppress me with thine eye?
  ACHILLES. Tell me, you heavens, in which part of his body
    Shall I destroy him? Whether there, or there, or there?
    That I may give the local wound a name,
    And make distinct the very breach whereout
    Hector's great spirit flew. Answer me, heavens.
  HECTOR. It would discredit the blest gods, proud man,
    To answer such a question. Stand again.
    Think'st thou to catch my life so pleasantly
    As to prenominate in nice conjecture
    Where thou wilt hit me dead?
  ACHILLES. I tell thee yea.
  HECTOR. Wert thou an oracle to tell me so,
    I'd not believe thee. Henceforth guard thee well;
    For I'll not kill thee there, nor there, nor there;
    But, by the forge that stithied Mars his helm,
    I'll kill thee everywhere, yea, o'er and o'er.
    You wisest Grecians, pardon me this brag.
    His insolence draws folly from my lips;
    But I'll endeavour deeds to match these words,
    Or may I never-
  AJAX. Do not chafe thee, cousin;
    And you, Achilles, let these threats alone
    Till accident or purpose bring you to't.
    You may have every day enough of Hector,
    If you have stomach. The general state, I fear,
    Can scarce entreat you to be odd with him.
  HECTOR. I pray you let us see you in the field;
    We have had pelting wars since you refus'd
    The Grecians' cause.
  ACHILLES. Dost thou entreat me, Hector?
    To-morrow do I meet thee, fell as death;
    To-night all friends.
  HECTOR. Thy hand upon that match.
  AGAMEMNON. First, all you peers of Greece, go to my tent;
    There in the full convive we; afterwards,
    As Hector's leisure and your bounties shall
    Concur together, severally entreat him.
    Beat loud the tambourines, let the trumpets blow,
    That this great soldier may his welcome know.
                    Exeunt all but TROILUS and ULYSSES
  TROILUS. My Lord Ulysses, tell me, I beseech you,
    In what place of the field doth Calchas keep?
  ULYSSES. At Menelaus' tent, most princely Troilus.
    There Diomed doth feast with him to-night,
    Who neither looks upon the heaven nor earth,
    But gives all gaze and bent of amorous view
    On the fair Cressid.
  TROILUS. Shall I, sweet lord, be bound to you so much,
    After we part from Agamemnon's tent,
    To bring me thither?
  ULYSSES. You shall command me, sir.
    As gentle tell me of what honour was
    This Cressida in Troy? Had she no lover there
    That wails her absence?
  TROILUS. O, sir, to such as boasting show their scars
    A mock is due. Will you walk on, my lord?
    She was belov'd, she lov'd; she is, and doth;
    But still sweet love is food for fortune's tooth.
Exeunt

 Enter Ajax, Agamemnon, Achilles, Patroclus, Menelaus, Ulysses, Nestor and others. Agamemnon tells Ajax to sound his trumpet so that Hector may be brought to combat. Ajax tells his trumpeter to crack thy lungs, and split thy brazen pipe. He tells him to blow until his cheeks are rounded and outswell the North wind. The trumpet is sounded but as Ulysses comments, no trumpet answers. Achilles says that it is still early. While the Greeks are waiting for the start of the fighting, Cressida and Diomedes enter. Each of the Greeks - Agamemnon, Nestor, Achilles, kisses her in welcome. I had good argument for kissing, once says Menelaus sadly and Patroclus says: But thatso no argument for kissing now; and steps in between saying For thus poppd Paris in his hardiment, /And parted thus you and your argument. Patroclus kisses Cressida. In an aside, Ulysses comments that O deadly gall, and theme of all our/scorns!/For which we lose our heads to gild his horns. The theme is both Helen and her separation from Menelaus. It is a theme that the Greeks scorn as they are doing here, but they also suffer scorns in being put at mortal risk for Helens sake. Patroclus kisses Cressida again saying that while the last kiss was for Menelaus this one was for him. But the ridiculous Menelaus insists on his kiss, and is refused by Cressida who first asks him: In kissing, do you render or receive? Menelaus replies: Both take and give. Cressida who is now getting into the swing of things says, Ill make my match to live, /The kiss you take is better than you give /Therefore, no kiss. Menelaus persists pathetically and there is much reference to his cuckolded state. Ulysses tells Cressida to give him a kiss and Cressida tells him to beg two. Ulysses says, Why then, for Venuss sake, give me a kiss/When Helen is a maid again, and his Ulysses is the only one who is aloof. He means that she need never give him a kiss as it is impossible for Helen to be a maid again. This whole scene is precursor of things to come, of Cressidas flippancy and her oncoming disposition. Diomedus and Cressida exit and when Nestor expresses his approval of her Ulysses expresses contempt and disgust. He says that Cressida is blatantly open to encouragement and after a devastating analysis of her character, likens her to a prostitute. A trumpet is sounded, and Hector, Aeneas, Troilus, Paris, Deiphobus and attendants enter. Aeneas says that Hector wants to know what honor would be bestowed on the victor of the day, and whether the victory should be determined by a battle to the edge of all extremity or whether the combatants should be separated by the Marshal and judged on points. Agamemnon asks how Hector would like it. Aeneas says Hector doesnt care either way and that he will obey whatever conditions are set down. Agamemnon approvingly says that Tis done like Hector. Achilles comments that Hectors action is overconfident and underrates his opponent. Aeneas tells Achilles about Hector. Aeneas who is adept at polite snubs at first pretends not to recognize Achilles and then tells him that Hectors valor is greater than that of any other man, and his pride less. He also says that Hector is almost averse to fighting Ajax who is his cousin and hence half of him. Achilles understands that this is going to be a battle without bloodshed. Diomedes enters. Agamemnon tells Diomedes to stand by Ajax. He says that Diomedes and Aeneas can agree on the kind of fight it is going to be, either one to the edge of all extremity or just a bout for exercise. He says that the fact that the opponents are related, checks their strife even before the battle begins. Ajax and Hector enter and take their positions. Agamemnon wants to know who Troilus is. Ulysses tells him that he is the youngest son of Priam and describes him as a young man who is not yet mature but matchless. He continues that Troilus deeds speak for him and that he isnt easily provoked. But once he is provoked, he isnt easily calmed. He says that his heart and hand are both open and free, he is liberal, blameless and generous. Yet, he is no fool, and his giving is guided by his judgment - unworthy thoughts are beneath him. Ulysses even compares Troilus favorably to Hector.

