Agamemnon [upon seeing Achilles' boat landing first on the beaches of Troy]
The man wants to die!
Played by Brian Cox 
Troy (2004) · 116 quotes
Troy (2004) · 116 quotes
2nd most-quoted character in Troy (2004): in 19 of its 116 quotes
Most scenes with: Achilles (2), Hector (2), Menelaus (2)
Empires are forged by war. Peace is for women and the weak.
More lines from Agamemnon
10 quotes Agamemnon Agamemnon The Gods only protect the strong.
Agamemnon [on the death of Patroclus]
That boy just saved the war for us.
Agamemnon Achilles? He can't be controlled! He's as likely to fight us as the Trojans!
Agamemnon [to Briseis]
I almost lost this war because of your little romance.
Agamemnon [referring to Achilles]
He's going to take the beaches of Troy with 50 men?!
Agamemnon History remembers kings, not soldiers!
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]
Agamemnon [as the Greek soldiers cheer for Achilles]
Give him too many battles, and the men will forget who's king.
Agamemnon [as Troy burns]
Let it burn! Let Troy burn! Burn it, for Menelaus! Burn it! Burn Troy! Burn Troy! I promised you, brother! I promised you! Burn it! Burn it for Menelaus!
Scenes with Agamemnon
8 scenes Agamemnon I see you're not hiding behind your high walls. Valiant of you. Ill-advised, but valiant.
You come here uninvited. Get back to your ships and leave.
Agamemnon We've come too far to stop now, Prince Hector.
Prince? What prince? What son of a king would accept a man's hospitality, eat his food, drink his wine, embrace him in friendship, then steal his wife in the middle of the night?!
The sun was shining when your wife left you.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Agamemnon 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.
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 and I will build monuments for victory on every island of Greece; I'll carve "Agamemnon" in the stone!
Be careful, King of Kings. First you need the victory.
I want her back.
Agamemnon Well, of course you do. She's a beautiful woman.
I want her back so I can kill her with my own two hands. I won't rest until I've burned Troy to the ground.
Imagine a king who fights his own battles. Wouldn't that be a sight? [goes to fight Boagrius]
Agamemnon Of all the warlords loved by the gods, I hate him the most.
Agamemnon Achilles is one man!
Hector is one man! Look what he did to us today!
Agamemnon Hector fights for his country! Achilles fights only for himself!
I don't care about the man's alliegence, I care about his ability to win battles!
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 [Boagrius emerges from the cheering Thessalian army; a giant of a man with immense strength] [Smiling with confidence]
Achilles!
Triopas [Achilles does not appear; Agamemnon's army remains silent. Agamemnon's smile fades while one forms on Triopas' face]
Boagrius has this effect on many heroes.
Agamemnon Careful who you insult, old king!
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!
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!
[The other Greek kings in the tent with Agamemnon look at each other nervously.]
Other characters in Troy
More Brian Cox characters
Captain O'Hagen
Ward Abbott
Hannibal Lecktor
Robert McKee
Colonel William Stryker
Argyle Wallace
Mr. Kreeg
Leon Trotsky