Troilus and Cressida, Act 5 Scene 7 — Summary & Analysis

What happens

Achilles arrives with his Myrmidons and commands them to surround and kill Hector. He orders his soldiers to strike together rather than individually, ensuring Hector cannot escape. Thersites enters, mocking the fight between Paris and Menelaus, then encounters Margarelon, a bastard son of Priam. Recognizing kinship in illegitimacy, Thersites refuses to fight him, calling the quarrel unlucky and departing.

Why it matters

This scene marks the moment when heroic combat dissolves into murder. Achilles' arrival with his band of mercenaries transforms the battlefield from a place of single-handed valor into a site of organized slaughter. His instruction to his soldiers—'Strike not a stroke, but keep yourselves in breath'—reveals the mechanical nature of his plan. He will not face Hector as an equal but will trap him through numerical advantage and collective violence. This is the antithesis of the honor code that has governed the play's battles. Achilles has become a predator hunting prey, and his Myrmidons are his pack. The decision to 'empale him with your weapons round about' and execute their aim 'in fellest manner' shows war stripped of all pretense of chivalry.

Thersites' presence in this scene underscores the moral bankruptcy of the entire conflict. His mockery of Paris and Menelaus—the original cause of the war—reminds us that this epic struggle is fundamentally about sexual possession and wounded pride. His refusal to fight Margarelon based on shared bastard status offers a brief, sardonic moment of solidarity that contrasts sharply with the orchestrated murder about to unfold. Thersites' exit line—'The devil take thee, coward!'—directed at Margarelon, is ironic given that Thersites himself has just fled. His cowardice is presented as wisdom, another inversion of the play's values. The scene leaves the stage clear for Hector's imminent slaughter, stripped of witnesses except the man who will orchestrate it.