Original: Princes,
Modern: Princes,

Original: What grief hath set the jaundice on your cheeks?
Modern: What sadness has made your faces turn yellow with despair?

Original: The ample proposition that hope makes
Modern: The grand promises that hope offers us

Original: In all designs begun on earth below
Modern: In every plan we start down here on earth

Original: Fails in the promised largeness: cheques and disasters
Modern: Falls short of its full potential: setbacks and disasters

Original: Grow in the veins of actions highest rear’d,
Modern: Develop within even our most noble undertakings,

Original: As knots, by the conflux of meeting sap,
Modern: Just as knots form when sap flows together in a tree,

Original: Infect the sound pine and divert his grain
Modern: Damaging the healthy pine and twisting its wood grain

Original: Tortive and errant from his course of growth.
Modern: Crooked and off-course from its natural growth pattern.

Original: Nor, princes, is it matter new to us
Modern: And princes, it shouldn’t surprise us

Original: That we come short of our suppose so far
Modern: That we’ve fallen so far short of our expectations

Original: That after seven years’ siege yet Troy walls stand;
Modern: That after seven years of attacking Troy, its walls still stand;

Original: Sith every action that hath gone before,
Modern: Since every military campaign in the past,

Original: Whereof we have record, trial did draw
Modern: That we have any record of, has proven

Original: Bias and thwart, not answering the aim,
Modern: To go off-course and astray, not hitting its target,

Original: And that unbodied figure of the thought
Modern: Missing that imagined vision

Original: That gave’t surmised shape. Why then, you princes,
Modern: That first gave it expected form. So why then, you princes,

Original: Do you with cheeks abash’d behold our works,
Modern: Do you look at our efforts with embarrassed faces,

Original: And call them shames? which are indeed nought else
Modern: And call them shameful? When they are really nothing more

Original: But the protractive trials of great Jove
Modern: Than the drawn-out tests of mighty Jupiter

Original: To find persistive constancy in men:
Modern: To discover which men have lasting determination:

Original: The fineness of which metal is not found
Modern: The quality of a person’s character cannot be discovered

Original: In fortune’s love; for then the bold and coward,
Modern: When fortune smiles on us; because then the brave and the cowardly,

Original: The wise and fool, the artist and unread,
Modern: The smart and the stupid, the skilled and the ignorant,

Original: The hard and soft seem all affined and kin:
Modern: The strong and the weak all seem alike and related:

Original: But, in the wind and tempest of her frown,
Modern: But when fortune turns against us like a violent storm,

Original: Distinction, with a broad and powerful fan,
Modern: The differences between men, like a strong winnowing fan,

Original: Puffing at all, winnows the light away;
Modern: Blowing on everyone, separates the lightweight chaff away;

Original: And what hath mass or matter, by itself
Modern: And whatever has real substance and weight, standing alone

Original: Lies rich in virtue and unmingled.
Modern: Reveals itself as truly valuable and pure.

In Act I, Scene 3 of “Troilus and Cressida,” the Greek commanders gather in their camp to discuss their prolonged and unsuccessful siege of Troy. Agamemnon, the Greek general, opens the scene by addressing his council, acknowledging that their seven-year campaign has been frustrating and testing their resolve. Nestor, the eldest Greek leader, supports Agamemnon’s assessment and philosophizes that prolonged difficulties serve to test true valor and distinguish the worthy from the unworthy. The conversation reveals the Greeks’ concern about their lack of progress in the war.

Ulysses then delivers an extensive speech diagnosing the fundamental problem plaguing the Greek forces: a complete breakdown of order and hierarchy within their ranks. He explains that Achilles, their greatest warrior, has withdrawn from battle and spends his time in his tent with Patroclus, who entertains him by performing mocking impersonations of the Greek leaders, particularly Agamemnon and Nestor. Ulysses argues that this disrespect has infected the entire army, with other soldiers following Achilles’ example of insubordination. Ajax has also grown proud and unmanageable, influenced by Thersites. Aeneas arrives as a Trojan herald, interrupting their council with a challenge from Hector, who offers to fight any Greek champion in single combat to defend the honor of his lady against all Greek women. The Greek leaders accept the challenge, and Ulysses privately suggests to Nestor that they should manipulate the selection process to have Ajax fight instead of Achilles, hoping this will wound Achilles’ pride and draw him back into the war.

Troilus and Cressida is set during the Trojan War and follows two interconnected storylines. The first centers on the tragic love affair between Troilus, a young Trojan prince, and Cressida, daughter of the Trojan priest Calchas who has defected to the Greeks. With the help of Cressida’s uncle Pandarus, the lovers are brought together and consummate their relationship, pledging eternal fidelity to one another.

Meanwhile, the Greek camp is plagued by dissension and a breakdown in military hierarchy. The war has dragged on for seven years with little progress. Agamemnon and Nestor struggle to maintain order while Achilles sulks in his tent, refusing to fight. The Greeks attempt to provoke Achilles by having Ajax challenge the Trojan hero Hector to single combat, but this strategy fails to rouse Achilles to action.

The two plots converge when the Greeks and Trojans arrange a prisoner exchange: Cressida is to be traded to the Greek camp in return for the Trojan commander Antenor. Despite their vows of love, Cressida is forced to leave Troy. Once in the Greek camp, she quickly becomes involved with the Greek warrior Diomedes. Troilus witnesses her apparent betrayal during a nighttime encounter and is devastated by her inconstancy.

The play concludes with renewed fighting between the two armies. Hector, despite ominous warnings, enters battle and is treacherously killed by Achilles and his Myrmidons. Troilus, consumed with grief and rage over both Cressida’s betrayal and Hector’s death, vows revenge against the Greeks. The play ends without resolution, as the war continues with both sides having suffered significant losses.