Selan

Well, this is Shakespeare's version of the Iliad (part of it, anyway). There also two characters, Troilus and Cressida, who are split apart by the shortcomings of the Trojan War, and...

You know, I'm not going to into too much detail. I loved the Iliad. I'm a Greek mythology nut. I was SO hyped that Shakespeare actually wrote a play with the Iliad and...

Nope.

In my opinion, this play is a bastardisation of all the characters and events from the end of the Iliad that made me love Homer's epic. Achilles is now a dick, Troilus is a dudebro (we're apparently supposed to be rooting for him??), his "romance" with Cressida goes absolutely nowhere, Paris does god knows what cause I don't think much happened, Greek warriors are invited into Troy as if it's a freaking party even though they're supposed to be mortal enemies, and all the characters make tiresome speeches which often refer to their dicks.

I could NOT take this seriously. Ulysses, one of my all-time favourite characters from the Iliad and the Odyssey, just rambles on and on for apparently no real purpose. Troilus and Cressida, despite being the TITLE of the play, aren't really the main focus at all! Imagine reading Romeo and Juliet and only seeing them interact in about 2-3 scenes at most before breaking up?

Worst of all is the fight between Achilles and Hector. I was kinda looking forward to it, but it's like this....

Round 1: Hector challenges Achilles
Hector: Fight me, Achilles!
Achilles: I have no weapons or armour! I cannot defend myself against you!
Hector: Fair enough. -leaves-

??????
Why?? What...?? Achilles can fight regardless of weapons or armour. I mean, he is unstoppable except for the weak point in his heel, right? Which is where the phrase Achilles' heel actually comes from, and why he's such a great warrior?

But that's not the bad part.

Round 2: Achilles comes back later, and challenges Hector
Achilles: Prepare to die, Hector!
Hector: But Achilles, I have no weapons or armour now! I cannot defend myself!
Achilles: Tough! -surrounds Hector with about 10 soldiers and watches as they kill Hector-

UM.
Okay, the invincible warrior Achilles had now completely and utterly failed in his definition. I get that this is supposed to be biased against Achilles? Like, okay. It makes him look like a dick. But why order his men to kill Hector? He is perfectly capable of defeating Hector on his own. It just...does NOT make sense.

Oh by the way, the play ends 10 seconds after that.
You don't get to see Paris shoot an arrow into Achilles' heel.
Also, this is meant to be a tragedy, but the only tragedy I felt was from Hector's death. He was one of the few decent characters.

I liked a small part of this play but most of it was just bad. Did not like this at all.