This is the darkest book in the Iliad. Achilles fights a river.
The Iliad · C2+
Book Twenty-One: The River
Fixed subjunctives (suffice it to say, far be it from me, come what may, heaven forbid, so be it) and words that even native speakers confuse (flout / flaunt, tortuous / torturous, inflammable, uninterested / disinterested, nonplussed): C2+ language for the darkest book of the Iliad.
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SOPHIA
MARCOS
How do you fight a river?
The story
After Homer’s Iliad, Book Twenty-One
Achilles drove the Trojans into the Scamander; suffice it to say that the river ran red. He met Lycaon, a son of Priam, who begged for his life. Far be it from me to judge Achilles, but in Homer he called Lycaon “friend”, and killed him anyway. He would kill Trojans until he reached Hector, come what may.
The river told him to stop filling its waters with corpses, and Achilles flouted its command. The river rose and chased him along its tortuous course, and he nearly drowned like a swineherd boy: heaven forbid! Then Hephaestus set the plain on fire. The bodies, the trees, the reeds: everything was inflammable, and the river boiled until it gave up. If Achilles wanted to destroy Troy, so be it.
On the plain, the gods fought each other. Apollo was uninterested in fighting his uncle Poseidon over mortals, who are like leaves. Instead he tricked Achilles away from the city, and when the god revealed himself, Achilles was nonplussed.
Mortals are like leaves: now they flourish, and now they waste away and die.
Fixed subjunctives
PHILO
Suffice it to say the river ran red. Far be it from me to criticise. Come what may. Heaven forbid! So be it.
SOPHIA
These are fossils of the old English subjunctive: suffice, not suffices; be, not is; forbid, not forbids; may, not might. Learn them as whole phrases.
Words people confuse (1)
DEMETRIA
He flouted the river’s command (not flaunted). Its tortuous course (not torturous). Everything was inflammable.
SOPHIA
flout = disobey; flaunt = show off. tortuous = twisting; torturous = painful. inflammable = flammable; the opposite is non-flammable.
Words people confuse (2)
MARCOS
Apollo was uninterested in fighting Poseidon. Achilles was nonplussed.
SOPHIA
uninterested = not interested; disinterested = impartial. nonplussed = so surprised you don’t know what to do (though in American English it can mean calm!).
Sophia’s summary
| Form | Use | From the story |
|---|---|---|
| suffice it to say; far be it from me | fixed subjunctives: restraint, irony | Suffice it to say, the river ran red. |
| come what may; heaven forbid; so be it | fixed subjunctives: fate and acceptance | Come what may, I will find Hector. |
| flout / flaunt; tortuous / torturous | commonly confused pairs | He flouted the river’s command. |
| inflammable | a famous false negative | Everything was inflammable. |
| uninterested / disinterested; nonplussed | meanings that are changing | Apollo was uninterested in fighting. |
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. Suffice it to ___ that the river ran red.
2. Far ___ it from me to criticise.
3. I will find him, come what ___.
4. Achilles ___ the river’s command.
5. The river’s ___ course twisted across the plain.
6. Apollo was ___ in fighting Poseidon.
B · Write
Write the correct form of the word in brackets, or the missing word.
7. Drowned like a swineherd? Heaven !
8. If that is what he wants, so it.
9. Dry reeds are highly : they burn easily.
10. When Apollo laughed at him, Achilles was .
C · Right or wrong?
Is it correct?
11. “She flaunted her new necklace at the party.”
12. “Suffices it to say, we lost.”
13. “A judge must be completely uninterested in the result.”
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