Troilus and Cressida: every role by lines, words, and stage time

William Shakespeare. 27 speaking roles, 25,263 words, about 181 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Troilus has the most to say in Troilus and Cressida: about 536 lines and 3,953 words, 15.6% of the play. Troilus and Cressida sets the love of the Trojan prince Troilus and Cressida against the quarrels of the Greek camp during the Trojan War. The load is widely spread: Troilus leads with about 16% of the words, and Ulysses and Pandarus follow at about 14% and 13%. Cressida has fewer words than Thersites and speaks in only 6 of 24 sections.

Speaking roles: 27
Scenes: 24
Words: 25,263
Speech time: 181 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Troilus	536	3,953	15.6%	28.2	13
Ulysses	485	3,519	13.9%	25.1	7
Pandarus	392	3,150	12.5%	22.5	8
Thersites	271	2,289	9.1%	16.4	7
Cressida	300	2,118	8.4%	15.1	6
Hector	212	1,529	6.1%	10.9	7
Agamemnon	193	1,396	5.5%	10.0	7
Achilles	187	1,301	5.1%	9.3	9
Nestor	159	1,136	4.5%	8.1	6
Aeneas	144	1,044	4.1%	7.5	8
Paris	98	722	2.9%	5.2	5
Diomedes	103	693	2.7%	5.0	11
Ajax	85	535	2.1%	3.8	8
Patroclus	65	405	1.6%	2.9	5
Alexander	33	260	1%	1.9	1
Cassandra	37	259	1%	1.9	2
Calchas	31	229	0.9%	1.6	2
Helen	28	175	0.7%	1.3	1
Priam	20	138	0.5%	1.0	2
Servant	19	118	0.5%	0.8	2
Andromache	15	113	0.4%	0.8	1
Menelaus	12	79	0.3%	0.6	4
Helenus	4	37	0.1%	0.3	1
Boy	3	26	0.1%	0.2	2
Margarelon	3	14	0.1%	0.1	1
Deiphobus	2	10	0%	0.1	2
Myrmidons	1	8	0%	0.1	1

Who speaks in which scene

Darker cells mean more words in that scene. Use it to plan rehearsal calls, or to see how long an actor waits between entrances.

Role	1.1	1.2	1.3	2.1	2.2	2.3	3.1	3.2	3.3	4.1	4.2	4.3	4.4	4.5	5.1	5.2	5.3	5.4	5.5	5.6	5.7	5.8	5.9	5.10
Troilus
Ulysses
Pandarus
Thersites
Cressida
Hector
Agamemnon
Achilles
Nestor
Aeneas
Paris
Diomedes
Ajax

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Ulysses: “Troy, yet upon his basis, had been down,”	Act 1, Scene 3	454	63
Ulysses: “Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back,”	Act 3, Scene 3	352	46
Ulysses: “The great Achilles, whom opinion crowns”	Act 1, Scene 3	316	43
Troilus: “I take to-day a wife, and my election”	Act 2, Scene 2	298	36
Ulysses: “I do not strain at the position—”	Act 3, Scene 3	232	30
Aeneas: “Trumpet, blow loud,”	Act 1, Scene 3	227	28
Agamemnon: “Princes,”	Act 1, Scene 3	226	30
Hector: “Paris and Troilus, you have both said well,”	Act 2, Scene 2	222	31
Agamemnon: “Hear you, Patroclus:”	Act 2, Scene 3	207	27
Thersites: “How now, Thersites! what, lost in the labyrint…”	Act 2, Scene 3	196	20

Small roles that can be doubled

These pairs of small roles never speak in the same scene, so one actor could play both. Check entrances and silent appearances in your script before you cast it this way.

Nestor and Paris
Nestor and Alexander
Nestor and Cassandra
Nestor and Helen
Nestor and Priam
Nestor and Andromache
Nestor and Helenus
Nestor and Boy
Nestor and Margarelon
Nestor and Deiphobus
Nestor and Myrmidons
Aeneas and Alexander

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in Troilus and Cressida?

Troilus, with about 536 lines and 3,953 words, 15.6% of everything spoken in the play. Ulysses is next, with about 485 lines (13.9%).

How long is Troilus and Cressida?

The full text has 25,263 spoken words, about 181 minutes at 140 words a minute before pauses, scene changes, and cuts. Most productions cut the text, so running times vary.

How many speaking roles are in Troilus and Cressida?

27 named roles speak in this edition, across 24 scenes. 14 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.