Nine Worthies
The Nine Worthies were also a popular subject for masques in Renaissance Europe. In William Shakespeare's play "Love's Labour's Lost" the comic characters attempt to stage such a masque, but it descends into chaos. The list of Worthies actually named in the play include two not on the original list, Hercules and Pompey the Great. Alexander, Judah Maccabee, and Hector also appear on stage before the show collapses into complete disorder. The worthies are also mentioned in "Henry IV, Part 2" in which Doll Tearsheet is so impressed by Falstaff's bravery in fighting Ancient Pistol that she says he is "as valorous as Hector of Troy, worth five of Agamemnon, and ten times better than the Nine Worthies".