Paris is businesslike and sympathetic. He knows what this costs Troilus, but the exchange must happen. He speaks as a military commander managing an emotional situation.
It is great morning; and the hour prefix’d
For her delivery to this valiant Greek
Comes fast upon. Good my brother Troilus,
Tell you the lady what she is to do
And haste her to the purpose.
It's morning now, and the time that was set For her delivery to this courageous Greek Is coming fast. Good brother Troilus, Tell the lady what she needs to do And hurry her along to it.
It's daylight and the time we agreed on For handing her over to this tough Greek warrior Is almost here. Good Troilus, Go tell Cressida what's happening And get her ready to go.
its morning time to hand cressida over get her ready
Troilus's response to the command to hand over Cressida is to frame it as a religious act. She becomes an altar; he becomes a priest; his heart is the offering. This is brilliant and heartbreaking because it shows a mind trying to elevate an unbearable situation into something transcendent. He cannot say 'I am handing my lover to an enemy soldier' because that is unbearable. Instead, he says 'I am offering my heart at an altar.' The metaphor is an act of psychological self-protection. But it is also delusional. The reality is that Cressida will be taken to the Greek camp, and Troilus will be left behind. His heart is not the offering; hers is the currency. The scene's power lies in the gap between what Troilus says (a priest making a sacrifice) and what is actually happening (a woman being traded as a commodity).
Troilus tries to elevate the moment with religious language. He cannot speak plainly about loss, so he speaks in metaphors. The metaphor protects him from the reality of what is happening.
Walk into her house.
I’ll bring her to the Grecian presently;
And to his hand when I deliver her,
Think it an altar, and thy brother Troilus
A priest, there off’ring to it his own heart.
Go into her house. I'll bring her to the Greek very soon. And when I put her in his hands, Think of it as an altar, and of me, Troilus, as a priest offering my own heart to it.
Go on in to see her. I'll take her to the Greek in just a minute. When I hand her over, Think of it like an altar, and me As a priest sacrificing my own heart.
ill bring her to him soon im sacrificing my heart
Paris says 'I know what it is to love, / And would, as I shall pity, I could help!' This is the most self-aware moment Paris has in the play. He is the man at the center of the war, and he understands that his love has caused this tragedy. Yet he is trapped in the machinery of war as much as anyone else. The exchange must happen. Antenor must be freed. Cressida must be sent to the Greeks. There is no 'help' available. Paris can only pity and accept. This captures the play's darkest insight: tragedy is not something that happens to people; it is something that people do, and they do it even when they understand the cost. War is a machine that crushes everyone it touches, including those who caused it.
I know what ’tis to love,
And would, as I shall pity, I could help!
Please you walk in, my lords?
I know what it means to love, And I would help if I could, as much as I feel the pain. Shall we go inside, my lords?
I know what love is, And I wish I could help, I really do. Should we head inside, guys?
i get it i wish i could help lets go inside
The Reckoning
This is one of the shortest and most brutal scenes in the play. It is the moment of transaction — when Cressida stops being Troilus's lover and becomes a commodity to be handed over. Troilus responds with a metaphor: he is a priest, she is an altar, and his own heart is the offering. The metaphor is desperate and noble — an attempt to elevate a commercial transaction into a religious sacrifice. But the metaphor doesn't hold. She is not an altar; she is a prisoner of war. And the 'offering' is not his heart but her body. The scene is brief because there is nothing to say. The business has to be done.
If this happened today…
Outside a building, one soldier tells another that it's time to hand over a loved one as part of a prisoner exchange. The lover speaks in metaphors about sacrifice and altars. Then they all go inside to complete the transaction.