Troy (2004)
Brian Cox: Agamemnon
Photos
Quotes
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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 : 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 men brought here to fight for one man's greed.
Agamemnon : Careful boy, my mercy has limits.
Hector : And I've seen the limits of your mercy and I tell you now, no son of Troy will ever submit to a foreign ruler.
Agamemnon : Then every son of Troy shall die.
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Agamemnon : [on the death of Patroclus] That boy may have just saved the war for us.
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Nestor : One more thing, we need Achilles and his Myrmidon.
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 killer. But he threatens everything I've built. Before me, Greece was nothing. I brought all the Greek kingdoms together. I created a nation out of fire worshippers and snake eaters! I build the future Nestor, Me! achilles is the past. A man who fights for no flag. A man loyal to no country.
Nestor : How many battles have we won off the edge of his sword? This will be the greatest war the world has ever seen. We need the greatest warrior.
Agamemnon : There's only one man he'll listen to.
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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 is 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.
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 to honour your courage. Take what you wish.
Agamemnon : I already have. Aphareus! Haemon!
[Aphareus and Haemon appear dragging Briseis]
Agamemnon : The spoils of war.
Achilles : No argument with you, brothers. But if you don't release her, you'll never see home again. Decide!
Agamemnon : Guards!
[Achilles draws his sword]
Briseis : [breaking free from guards] Stop! Too many men have died today. If killing is your only talent, that's your curse. I don't want anyone dying for me.
[Achilles groans, then sheathes his sword]
Agamemnon : Mighty Achilles, silenced by a slave girl. Tonight I'll have her give me a bath, and then, who knows?
Achilles : You sack of wine! Before my time is done, I will look down on your corpse and smile.
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Agamemnon : [upon seeing Achilles' boat to land first on the beaches of Troy] The man wants to die!
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Agamemnon : [approaches king] Good day for the crows.
Triopas : Remove your army from my land.
Agamemnon : Why, I like your land, I think we'll stay. I like your soldiers too.
Triopas : They won't fight for you.
Agamemnon : That's what the Messenians said, and the Acardians, and the Opeians, 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!
[cheers from Thessalian army. Boagrius comes out from the centre of the army]
Agamemnon : Achilles!
[silence]
Triopas : Boagrius has this effect on many heroes.
Agamemnon : Be careful who you insult, old king.
Greek Soldier : My king, Achilles is not with the army.
Agamemnon : Where is he?
Greek Soldier : I sent a boy to look for him.
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Agamemnon : [Observing Achilles' ship racing in fronnt of the others] He's going to take the beach of Troy with 50 men?
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Agamemnon : I almost lost this war because of your little romance.
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Agamemnon : [to Briseis] You'll be my slave in Mycenae. A Trojan priestess scrubbing my floors. And at night...
[Briseis stabs him in the neck with a Trojan blade]
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Agamemnon : The Gods only protect the strong.
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Agamemnon : Peace is for women and the weak.
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Menelaus : I want her back.
Agamemnon : Well, of course you do, she's a beautiful woman.
Menelaus : I want her back so I can kill her with my own two hands, and I won't rest till I've burned Troy to the ground.
Agamemnon : I thought you wanted peace with Troy.
Menelaus : I should have listened to you.
Agamemnon : Peace is for the women, and the weak. Empires are forged by war.
Menelaus : All my life I've stood by your side, fought your enemies. You're the elder, you reap the glory. This is the war of the world. But have I ever complained, brother? Have I ever asked you for anything?
Agamemnon : Never. You're a man of honour.
Menelaus : Will you go to war with me, brother?
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Agamemnon : May the gods keep the wolves in the fields and the women in our beds.
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[Paris cowers from his single combat with Menelaus, and runs to Hector, lying at his feet]
Menelaus : [Raging at Helen, far away] Is this what you left me for?
[to Paris]
Menelaus : Fight! Fight me! You coward! Fight me! We have a pact! Fight!
Priam : [From a top Troy, verbalizing] Fight him son, fight him
Menelaus : Fight me!
Agamemnon : The Trojans have violated the agreement, prepare for battle!
[the Greeks all change to a fighting position]
Menelaus : This is not honor! This is not worthy of royalty! If he doesn't fight, Troy is doomed!
Hector : The fight is over
Menelaus : The fight is not over. Stand back, Prince Hector, I'll kill him at your feet, I don't care!
Hector : He's my brother
[Menelaus angrily swings his sword in an attempt to decapitate Paris, but Hector quickly runs his sword through Menelaus' chest]
