Troilus and Cressida: ‘Men prize the thing ungained more than it is’

Episode 201 ‘Troilus and Cressida’, is a challenging piece by pretty much everybody’s estimation. Although it is no surprise that Shakespeare looked to the Homeric tales for his next inspiration which part of that story he chose to dramatize perhaps is and what he chose to do with it has perplexed commentators ever since. Ambiguous is the word most often used, but ultimately opinions range through ‘failure’ to ‘misunderstood’ to ‘modernistic’, and just about everything else in-between. The early print history and dating of the play The confusion caused by the two quarto versions and the First Folio version The source material for the play A brief synopsis of the play ‘Troilus and Cressida’ as a ‘problem play’ The Prologue The play as an ensemble piece The ignoble nature of the characters in the play Cassandra as the voice of truth Troilus and his view of Cressida Is there a parallel with Romeo and Juliet? The portrayal of Achilles and Hector Ulysses and the ‘great chain of being’ argument Was the play written for the Inns of Court? Pandarus and the bitter ending to the play explained The critical reception of the play The performance history of the play Support the podcast at: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Troilus and Cressida: ‘Men prize the thing ungained more than it is’ is an episode from The History Of European Theatre by Philip Rowe.

This episode is 37:13 long.

This episode was published on Jan 19, 2026.

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