Quotes

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[battling the Trojans on the beach of Troy] I am Ajax, breaker of stones! Look upon me and despair!

Dialogue

Agamemnon: Good day for the crows. Triopas: I told you yesterday and I'll tell you again today. Remove your army from my land. Agamemnon: I like your land. I think we'll stay. I like your soldiers too. they fought bravely yesterday; not well but bravely. Triopas: They won't fight for you. Agamemnon: That's what the Mycenaeans said. And the Arcadians. And the Epeians. Now, they all fight for me. Triopas: You can't have the whole world, Agamemnon. It's too big, even for you. Agamemnon: I don't want to watch another massacre. Let's settle this war in the old manner, your best fighter against my best. Triopas: And if my man wins? Agamemnon: We'll leave Thessaly for good. Triopas: Boagrius! Agamemnon: [Smiling with confidence] Achilles! Triopas: Boagrius has this effect on many heroes. Agamemnon: Careful who you insult, old king!

Dialogue

Messenger Boy: Are the stories about you true? They say your mother is an immortal goddess. They say you can't be killed. Achilles: I wouldn't be bothering with the shield then, would I? Messenger Boy: The Thessalonian you're fighting-he is the biggest man I've ever seen. I wouldn't want to fight him. Achilles: That's why no one will remember your name.

Dialogue

Agamemnon: I always thought my brother's wife was a foolish woman. But she's proved to be very useful! [chuckles] Nothing unifies the people like a common enemy. Nestor: The Trojans have never been conquered. Some say they can't be conquered. Agamemnon: Old King Priam thinks he's untouchable behind his high walls. He thinks the sun god will protect him. But the gods protect only...the strong! If Troy falls, I control the Aegean. Nestor: Hector commands the finest army in the east, and Troy is built to withstand a ten year siege. Agamemnon: There won't be a ten year siege! I'll attack them with the greatest force the world has ever seen! I want all the kings of Greece and their armies. Send emissaries in the morning. Nestor: One last thing. We need Achilles and his Myrmidons. Agamemnon: Achilles? He can't be controlled. He's as likely to fight us as the Trojans. Nestor: We don't need to control him, we need to unleash him. That man was born to end lives. Agamemnon: Yes, he's a gifted ki

Dialogue

Paris: It's a beautiful morning. Poseidon has blessed our voyage. Hector: Sometimes the gods bless you in the morning and curse you in the afternoon. Paris: Do you love me, brother? Would you protect me from any enemy? Hector: [stops his carving and looks at Paris] The last time you spoke to me like this, you were ten years old and you'd just stolen Father's horse. What have you done now? Paris: I must show you something.

Dialogue

Hector: [to helmsman] Turn the ship around! Back to Sparta! Paris: Wait, wait- Hector: You fool. Paris: Listen to me- Hector: [pushes Paris] Do you know what you've done?! Do you know how many years our father worked for peace?! Paris: I love her. Hector: [groans in frustration] It's all a game to you, isn't it? You roam from town to town, bedding merchant's wives and temple maids, and you think you know something about love. What about your father's love? You spat on him when you brought her on this ship! What about the love for your country?! You'd let Troy burn for this woman?! I won't let you start a war for her. Paris: May I speak? What you say is true. I've wronged you, I've wronged our father. If you want to take Helen back to Sparta, so be it. But I go with her. Hector: To Sparta? They'll kill you. Paris: Then I'll die fighting. Hector: Oh, and that sounds heroic to you, doesn't it? To die fighting. Tell me, little brother, have you ever killed a man? Paris: No. Hector: Ever se

Dialogue

Hector: [discussing Paris and Helen] Father, I know this is the last thing we need. Priam: It is the will of the gods. Everything is in their hands. But I'm surprised you let him bring her. Hector: If I'd let him fight Menelaus for her, you'd be burning a son's body instead of welcoming a daughter. Priam: We could send peace envoys to Menelaus. Hector: You know Menelaus, he'd spear their heads to his gate. Priam: What would you have me do? Hector: Put her on a ship, and send her home. Priam: Women have always loved Paris, and he has loved them back, but this is different. Something has changed in him. If we send her home to Menelaus, he will follow her. Hector: This is my country, and these are my countrymen. I don't want to see them suffer so my brother can have his prize. And it's not just the Spartans coming after her. By now Menelaus has gone to Agamemnon, and Agamemnon has wanted to destroy us for years. Once we're out of the way, he controls the seas. Priam: Enemies have been att

Dialogue

Helen: They're coming for me. The wind is bringing them closer. Paris: What if we left? Tonight, right now. What if we went down to the stables, took two horses and left? Ride east, keep riding-- Helen: And go where? Paris: Away from here. I could hunt deer, rabbit. I could feed us. Helen: But this is your home. Paris: You left your home for me. Helen: Sparta was never my home. My parents sent my there when I was sixteen to marry Menelaus. But it was never my home. Paris: We'll live off the land. No more palaces for us. No more servants. We don't need any of that. Helen: And your family? Paris: We'd be protecting my family! If we're not here, what's the need for war? Helen: Menelaus won't give up. He'll track us to the end of the world. Paris: He doesn't know these lands. I do. We can lose ourselves in a day. Helen: You don't know Menelaus. You don't know his brother. They'll burn every house in Troy to find us. They'll never believe we've left. And even if they do, they'll burn it for

Dialogue

Hector: Why did you come here? Achilles: They'll be talking about this war for a thousand years. Hector: In a thousand years, the dust from our bones will be gone. Achilles: Yes, prince. But our names will remain. Achilles: Go home, prince. Drink some wine, make love to your wife. Tomorrow we'll have our war. Hector: You speak of war as if it's a game. But how many wives wait at Troy's gates for husbands they'll never see again? Achilles: Perhaps your brother can comfort them? I hear he's good at charming other men's wives.

Dialogue

Achilles: Apparently, you won some great victory. Agamemnon: Ah, perhaps you didn't notice. The Trojan beach belonged to Priam in the morning. It belongs to Agamemnon in the afternoon. Achilles: You can have the beach, I didn't come here for sand. Agamemnon: No. You came here because you want your name to last through the ages. A great victory was won today, but that victory was not yours. Kings did not kneel to Achilles. Kings did not pay homage to Achilles. Achilles: Perhaps the kings were too far behind to see. The soldiers won the battle. Agamemnon: History remembers kings, not soldiers! Tomorrow, we'll batter down the gates of Troy. I'll build monuments to victory on every island of Greece. I'll carve "Agamemnon" in the stone! My name will last through the ages! Your name is written in sand for the waves to wash away. Achilles: Be careful, King of Kings. First you need the victory. Agamemnon: Your men sacked the temple of Apollo, yes? Achilles: You want gold? Take it. It's my gift

Dialogue

Agamemnon: I see you're not hiding behind your high walls. Valiant of you. Ill-advised, but valiant. Hector: You come here uninvited. Go back to your ships and go home. Agamemnon: We've come too far, Prince Hector. Menelaus: Prince? What prince? What son of a king would accept a man's hospitality, eat his food, drink his wine, embrace him in friendship, and then steal his wife in the middle of the night?! Paris: The sun was shining when your wife left you. Menelaus: [draws sword] She's up there, watching, isn't she? Good. I want her to watch you die. Agamemnon: Not yet, brother. Look around you, Hector. I brought all the warriors of Greece to your shores. Nestor: You can still save Troy, young prince. Agamemnon: I have two wishes. If you grant them, no more of your people need die. First, you must give Helen back to my brother. Second, Troy must submit to my command, to fight for me whenever I call. Hector: You want me to look upon your army and tremble? Well, I see them. I see 50,000

Dialogue

Odysseus: The world seems simple to you, my friend. But when you're a king, very few choices are simple. Ithaca cannot afford an enemy like Agamemnon. Achilles: Am I supposed to fear him? Odysseus: You don't fear anyone, that's your problem. Fear is useful. Stay, Achilles. You were born for this war. Achilles: My life is war. Is that what you think? Odysseus: Am I wrong? Achilles: A week ago you were right. But things are less simple today. Odysseus: Women have a way of complicating things. Achilles: Of all the kings of Greece, I respect you most. But in this war you're a servant. And I refuse to be a servant any longer. Odysseus: Sometimes you need to serve in order to lead. I hope you understand that one day.

Dialogue

Agamemnon: They're laughing at me in Troy, drunk with victory! They think I'll sail home at first light. Odysseus: Maybe we should. Agamemnon: Flee?! Like a whipped dog?! Odysseus: The men believe we came here for Menelaus' wife. Won't be needing her anymore. Agamemnon: My brother's blood still wets the sand, and you insult him?! Odysseus: It's no insult to say a dead man is dead. Nestor: If we leave now, we lose all credibility. If the Trojans can beat us so easily, how long before the Hittites invade? Odysseus: If we stay, we stay here for the right reasons: to protect Greece, not your pride. Your private battle with Achilles is destroying us. Agamemnon: Achilles is one man! Odysseus: Hector is one man! Look what he did to us today! Agamemnon: Hector fights for his country! Achilles fights only for himself! Odysseus: I don't care about the man's allegiance, I care about his ability to win battles! Nestor: He's right. The men's morale is weak. Agamemnon: Well, even if I could make pea

Dialogue

Hector: I've seen this moment in my dreams. I'll make a pact with you. With the gods as our witnesses, let us pledge that the winner will allow the loser all the proper funeral rituals. Achilles: There are no pacts between lions and men. [stabs spear into ground, and takes off helmet, throwing it to the side] Now you know who you're fighting. Hector: [takes off helmet and throws it aside] I thought it was you I was fighting yesterday - and I wish it had been you. But I gave the dead boy the honor he deserved. Achilles: You gave him the honor of your sword. You won't have eyes tonight; you won't have ears or a tongue. You will wander the underworld blind, deaf, and dumb, and all the dead will know: This is Hector. The fool who thought he killed Achilles.

Dialogue

Achilles: [visibly moved] If I let you walk out of here, if I let you take him, it doesn't change anything. You're still my enemy in the morning. Priam: You're still my enemy tonight. But even enemies can show respect.

Dialogue

Agamemnon: Achilles makes a secret pact, and I have to honor it? What treason is this?! Consorting with the enemy king, giving him twelve days of peace! Peace, peace! Their prince is dead, their army is leaderless; this is the time to attack! Nestor: Even with Hector gone, we have no way to breach their walls. They can wait ten years for us to leave. Agamemnon: I will smash their walls to the ground, if it costs me 40,000 Greeks. Hear me, Zeus! I will smash their walls to the ground!

Dialogue

Paris: Look at them. You'd think their prince had never died. Helen: You are their prince now. Make your brother proud.