Troilus and Cressida: Act 2, Scene 3 Summary & Analysis

Angrily muttering to himself, Thersites wanders in front of Achilles’s tent. Neither Ajax nor Achilles has any wit or wisdom, just brute physical force. He calls down curses on them, on the whole Greek camp, and on the protracted war in which he’s stuck. Hearing him, Patroclus and Achilles come out of the tent to chat. They encourage Thersites to join their mockery of Agamemnon. He does—but he mocks them just as mercilessly, too. Everyone in the Greek camp, he says, from the mighty Agamemnon down to the hapless Thersites himself, is a fool.

When Agamemnon, Ulysses, Nestor, Diomedes, and Ajax approach the tent, Achilles quickly withdraws, telling Patroclus to keep the general and his men at bay. Patroclus tells Agamemnon that Achilles is indisposed. Ajax pipes up to diagnose the warrior with a bad case of pride. Agamemnon orders Patroclus to tell Achilles the general wants to speak with him, and when Achilles still insolently refuses to show his face, Agamemnon warns that he’s running out of patience. He sends Ulysses in with Patroclus to convey this to the sulking Achilles.

While Patroclus and Ulysses are in the tent, Agamemnon loudly compares Ajax with Achilles, clearly implying that he thinks Ajax the better man. Ajax laps up the praise, adding proudly that he’s humbler than Achilles, too. Ulysses soon returns with the report that Achilles refuses to join the battle the next day. He despairs of Achilles ever being cured of his arrogance. Then, Agamemnon and Ulysses theatrically argue about sending Ajax in to try to bring Achilles around, making sure to do so in a way that further inflates Ajax’s pride. Ajax offers to beat some sense into Achilles. But this is not the time or the place for violence, Ulysses says. Ajax should save his violence for the battlefield, where his strength will quickly prove him stronger and better than Achilles.

Nestor steps forward and offers to take the young and inexperienced Ajax under his wing, promising to teach him wisdom and virtue. Ajax welcomes the tutelage and embraces Nestor as a father figure. Leaving Achilles to his own devices, Agamemnon, Ulysses, Nestor, Diomedes, and Ajax withdraw to the council where they’ll decide who will face Hector.