AJAX

Were I the general, thou shouldst have my office

Ere that correction.—Troitus, I say! What, Troilus!

Enter Troilus

TROILUS

O traitor Diomed! Turn thy false face, thou traitor,

And pay the life thou ow’st me for my horse.

DIOMEDES Ha, art thou there?

AJAX

I’ll fight with him alone. Stand, Diomed.

DIOMEDES

He is my prize; I will not look upon.

TROILUS

Come, both you cogging Greeks, have at you both!

They fight.

Enter Hector

HECTOR

Yea, Troilus? O well fought, my youngest brother!

Exit Troilus ⌈driving Diomedes and Ajax in⌉

Enter Achilles ⌈behind⌉

ACHILLES

Now do I see thee.—Ha! Have at thee, Hector.

They fight. ⌈Achilles is bested⌉

HECTOR Pause, if thou wilt.

ACHILLES

I do disdain thy courtesy, proud Trojan.

Be happy that my arms are out of use.

My rest and negligence befriends thee now;

But thou anon shalt here of me again.

Till when, go seek thy fortune. Exit

HECTOR Fare thee well.

I would have been much more a fresher man

Had I expected thee.

Enter Troilus ⌈ain haste⌉

How now, my brother?

TROILUS

Ajax hath ta‘en Aeneas. Shall it be?

No, by the flame of yonder glorious heaven,

He shall not carry him. I’ll be ta’en too,

Or bring him off. Fate, hear me what I say:

I reck not though thou end my life today. Exit

Enter one in sumptuous armour

HECTOR

Stand, stand, thou Greek! Thou art a goodly mark.

No? Wilt thou not? I like thy armour well.

I’ll frush it and unlock the rivets all,

But I’ll be master of it. ⌈Exit one in armour⌉

Wilt thou not, beast, abide?

Why then, fly on; I’ll hunt thee for thy hide. Exit

5.7 Enter Achilles with Myrmidons

ACHILLES

Come here about me, you my Myrmidons.

Mark what I say. Attend me where I wheel;

Strike not a stroke, but keep yourselves in breath,

And when I have the bloody Hector found,

Empale him with your weapons round about.

In fellest manner execute your arms.

Follow me, sirs, and my proceedings eye.

It is decreed Hector the great must die. Exeunt

5.8 Enter Menelaus and Paris, fighting, ⌈then⌉ Thersites

THERSITES The cuckold and the cuckold-maker are at it.—Now, bull! Now, dog! ‘Loo, Paris, ’loo! Now, my double-horned Spartan! ’Loo, Paris, ’loo! The bull has the game. Ware horns, ho!

Exit Menelaus ⌈driving in⌉ Paris

Enter Bastard ⌈behind⌉

BASTARD Turn, slave, and fight.

THERSITES What art thou?

BASTARD A bastard son of Priam’s.

THERSITES I am a bastard, too. I love bastards. I am bastard begot, bastard instructed, bastard in mind, bastard in valour, in everything illegitimate. One bear will not bite another, and wherefore should one bastard? Take heed: the quarrel’s most ominous to us. If the son of a whore fight for a whore, he tempts judgement. Farewell, bastard. ⌈Exit⌉

BASTARD The devil take thee, coward. Exit

5.9 Enter Hector ⌈dragging⌉ the one in sumptuous armour

HECTOR ⌈taking off the helmet⌉

Most putrefied core, so fair without,

Thy goodly armour thus hath cost thy life.

Now is my day’s work done. I’ll take good breath.

Rest, sword: thou hast thy fill of blood and death.

He disarms.

Enter Achilles and his Myrmidons, surrounding

Hector

ACHILLES

Look, Hector, how the sun begins to set,

How ugly night comes breathing at his heels.

Even with the veil and dark’ning of the sun

To close the day up, Hector’s life is done.

HECTOR

I am unarmed. Forgo this vantage, Greek.

ACHILLES

Strike, fellows, strike! This is the man I seek.

⌈The Myrmidons⌉ kill Hector

So, Ilium, fall thou. Now, Troy, sink down.

Here lies thy heart, thy sinews, and thy bone.—

On, Myrmidons, and cry you all amain,

‘Achilles hath the mighty Hector stain!’

A retreat is sounded

Hark, a retire upon our Grecian part.

⌈Another retreat is sounded⌉

A MYRMIDON

The Trojan trumpets sound the like, my lord.

ACHILLES

The dragon wing of night o’erspreads the earth

And, stickler-like, the armies separates.

My half-supped sword, that frankly would have fed,

Pleased with this dainty bait, thus goes to bed.

He sheathes his sword

Come, tie his body to my horse’s tail.

Along the field I will the Trojan trail.

Exeunt, dragging the bodies

5.10 A retreat is sounded. Enter Agamemnon, Ajax, Menelaus, Nestor, Diomedes, and the rest, marching. ⌈A shout within⌉

AGAMEMNON

Hark, hark! What shout is that?

NESTOR Peace, drums.

MYRMIDONS (within) Achilles!

Achilles! Hector’s slain! Achilles!

DIOMEDES

The bruit is: Hector’s slain, and by Achilles.

AJAX

If it be so, yet bragless let it be.

Great Hector was a man as good as he.

AGAMEMNON

March patiently along. Let one be sent

To pray Achilles see us at our tent.

If in his death the gods have us befriended,

Great Troy is ours, and our sharp wars are ended.

Exeunt ⌈marching⌉

5.11 Enter Aeneas, Paris, Antenor, and Deiphobus

AENEAS

Stand, ho! Yet are we masters of the field.

Never go home; here starve we out the night.

Enter Troilus

TROILUS

Hector is slain.

ALL THE OTHERS Hector? The gods forbid.

TROILUS

He’s dead, and at the murderer’s horse’s tail

In beastly sort dragged through the shameful field.

Frown on, you heavens; effect your rage with speed;

Sit, gods, upon your thrones, and smite at Troy.

I say, at once: let your brief plagues be mercy,

And linger not our sure destructions on.

AENEAS