Given the wealth of formal debate contained in this tragedy, Troilus and Cressida was probably written in 1602 for a performance at one of the Inns of the Court. Shakespeare's treatment of the
age-old tale of love and betrayal is based on many sources, from Homer and Ovid to Chaucer and Shakespeare's near contemporary Robert Greene. In the introduction the various problems connected
with the play, its performance, and publication, are considered succinctly; its multiple sources are discussed in detail, together with its peculiar stage history and its renewed popularity in
recent years.
