Today the strangest book in the Iliad. Half of it isn’t about the war at all.
The Iliad · C1+
Book Fourteen: The Deception of Zeus
Hedging and diplomatic language (with all due respect, I was wondering if you could, it would seem that, I don’t suppose you could, as it were), out of the question, drive a hard bargain, no strings attached, make it worth your while and pull the wool over someone’s eyes: C1+ language for the queen of heaven.
✨ Play the story too: in the gamebook, you are Hera.Play the gamebook →
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
And a goddess wins the battle without a spear. Good.
The story
After Homer’s Iliad, Book Fourteen
The wounded Greek kings met by the ships, and Agamemnon proposed launching the ships. With all due respect, said Odysseus (not very respectfully), that was out of the question.
On Olympus, Hera made a plan to stop Zeus watching the battle. She asked Aphrodite whether she could do her a small favour: it would seem, she said, that Oceanus and Tethys had quarrelled, and she wanted to make peace between them. Aphrodite gave her the girdle of love and desire.
Then she found Sleep. She didn’t suppose he could close the eyes of Zeus for her? Sleep drove a hard bargain: a golden throne was not enough, and he didn’t believe a gift from Hera would come with no strings attached. But when she promised to make it worth his while with Pasithea, the Grace he loved, he agreed.
On Mount Ida, Zeus saw Hera and forgot everything else. Her armour, as it were, was a girdle, and she pulled the wool over his eyes completely. While he slept, Poseidon led the Greeks, and Ajax knocked Hector down with a rock.
In the girdle are love and desire, and the whispered words that steal the wits even of the wise.
Hedging and polite requests
MARCOS
“I was wondering if you could do me a favour.” “It would seem that they have quarrelled.” “I don’t suppose you could help me?”
SOPHIA
Past tenses and could make a request softer and more distant. It would seem / appear that makes a statement less direct. I don’t suppose you could…: the negative is in suppose, so the verb stays positive.
Diplomatic disguises
PHILO
“With all due respect, that’s the worst idea I’ve heard.” Her armour was, as it were, a girdle.
SOPHIA
with all due respect often comes before rudeness. as it were = so to speak, for a word used metaphorically (always were).
Deals and deceptions
DEMETRIA
That was out of the question. Sleep drove a hard bargain: no gift with no strings attached. “I’ll make it worth your while.” She pulled the wool over his eyes.
SOPHIA
out of the question = impossible. drive a hard bargain. no strings attached. make it worth someone’s while. pull the wool over someone’s eyes = deceive.
Sophia’s summary
| Form | Use | From the story |
|---|---|---|
| I was wondering if you could… | very polite requests | I was wondering if you could do me a favour. |
| It would seem that…; I don’t suppose you could… | hedging | It would seem that they have quarrelled. |
| with all due respect; as it were | diplomatic disguises | Her armour was, as it were, a girdle. |
| out of the question; drive a hard bargain; no strings attached | refusals and deals | Sleep drove a hard bargain. |
| make it worth your while; pull the wool over someone’s eyes | bribes and deception | She pulled the wool over his eyes. |
Practice
Answer all the questions, then press “Check my answers”. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Choose
Choose the correct form.
1. “I was wondering if you ___ do me a favour.”
2. “It would ___ that they have quarrelled.”
3. “I don’t suppose you ___ help me?”
4. With all due ___, that is a terrible idea.
5. Launching the ships was out of the ___.
6. She pulled the wool ___ his eyes.
B · Write
Write the correct form of the word in brackets, or the missing word.
7. Sleep drove a hard .
8. A gift with no attached? Never.
9. “Help me, and I’ll make it worth your .”
10. Her armour was, as it , a girdle.
C · Right or wrong?
Is it correct?
11. “I don’t suppose you couldn’t lend me your girdle?”
12. “I was wondering if you could close his eyes for an hour.”
13. “The money came with no ropes attached.”
Now play Book Fourteen yourself!Play the gamebook →