Cressida (an Anglicization of the name Criseida) is a literary name best known for the faithless lover of Troilus in medieval and Renaissance retellings of the Trojan War. The name was introduced to English audiences by William Shakespeare in his 1602 play Troilus and Cressida. Etymology The ultimate origin of Cressida lies in the Greek heroic epic tradition, specifically with the figure Chryseis in Homer's Iliad. However, Cressida's character—the unfaithful daughter of the Trojan seer Calchas who gives her heart to Troilus only later to betray him with Diomedes—is a Medieval invention. The Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio first expanded the minor Iliad figure into this tragic heroine in his 14th-century poem Il Filostrato, using the form Criseida. Geoffrey Chaucer later adapted the character into Middle English as Criseyde in his Troilus and Criseyde. Shakespeare adopted the Italianate spelling Cressida. Cressida is thus a distant Latinized or vernacular descendant of Χρυσηΐς (Chryseis), which means "golden" in Greek. Cultural Significance From the beginning Cressida entered literary tradition as a femme fatale, condemned for what one translator called "her newfanglednesse"—modern critics sometimes view betrayal as a response to patriarchal exchange of women during war. Through the centuries, Cressida continued to captivate writers, appearing in dramatic operas based on the Shakespeare play, and lending her name to a 1940s romance film Cressida Cressida and several fictional characters in modern fantasy novels. Usage and Variants While extremely rare in real life, the name gained minor public usage in the 20th century for literary influence, appearing occasionally in census figures outside the United Kingdom. Variant spellings worldwide include Criseida (Italian), Criseyde (Chaucerian), as well as associated Greek forms Chryseis, Chrysi, and Chryssa that descend from the original Greek of the Iliad. Famous Bearers Cressida Bonas, English actress and socialite (born 1989) Cressida Cowell, British children's author (‘The How to Train Your Dragon’ series, born 1962) Cressida Dick, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis previously MP’s Commander/Assistant Meaning: derived from Greek 'golden' but developed a fixed fictional identity – the Troilus myth betrayer Root: through Italian Criseida, a Chaucerian and Shakespearian variation of Classical Greek Chryseis for name structure purposes Type: combined word from less frequently given as pre-surname, artistic fictional in given sense among publications through Boccaccio and onward afterwards Main region influenced: Middle Europe for Renaissance origin having later high global use found scattered internationally