Circe

Circe offering the cup to Ulysses

By John William Waterhouse

Jasmina Uxa

For our piece we chose the novel Circe by Madeline Miller. The book was published on April 10th 2018. Madeline Miller is an American author born in Boston yet she grew up in New York City. Miller went to school at Brown to earn her BA as well as her MA in Classic Studies. Miller has been using her studies to teach as well as tutor Latin, Shakespeare and Greek to highschool students which she has been doing for the last 10 years. In addition to Brown, Miller studied at the University of Chicago as well as Yale school of drama, in which she started focusing on adapting different classical texts for example her first novel The Song of Achilles and Circe. Madeline Miller does an excellent job retelling the story of Circe in her own style and perspective.

In the textbook Classical Mythology, the authors describe Circe as the daughter of the Sun. As oDysseus and his men entered the Island he divided them into two groups and he stayed behind with one of the groups. The other group went to meet Circe who was surrounded by various animals. The group of men ate Circe’s food and became pigs. Odysseus goes to rescue his men but encounters Hermes who gives Odysseus a potion to protect him against Circe’s charms. He eats Circe’s food and is close to joining his men as pigs, but Circe recognizes him and makes a feast just for him to enjoy. Odysseus then lives with Circe for a year enjoying her hospitality but then is brought back to reality by his men to continue his journey. Circe agrees but tells Odyssus he first has to visit the Underworld to learn how to return home by a prophet names Telegonus.

In the book Circe, Miller perceives Circe as an immortal goddess being whose goal is to prevent Odysseus from returning home. Similarly to the texbook, Circe lures in Odysseus with her charm and hospitality which Odysessus describes as a home overflowing with food as well as  luxury. Miller’s book follows the story of Circe in the textbook by Odysseus losing sight of his path for his quest. Miller’s book follows the textbook’s classical description of the Odyssey quite closely, showing that she follows the myth accurately yet tells the story of Circe in her own personal way. This gives readers a unique view of the story from a more modern perspective with writing that is more casual than a textbook version of the story of Circe.

Works Cited

“Circe.” Goodreads, Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35959740-circe.

MICHAEL., MORFORD, MARK. LENARDON, ROBERT J.. SHAM. Classical Mythology. OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2023.

Miller, Madeline. Circe: A Novel. Back Bay Books / Little, Brown and Company, 2020.

Myth Versus Novel: Circe

Madeline Miller’s Circe presents the myth of the mythic witch Circe and the trials she encounters upon the island she has been banished to. More than this, Circe acts as Miller’s continuation of the Ancient Greek practice of storytelling, of spreading the myths that contain not only the narrative of mythical characters but holds truths about the way that people view both themselves and the world around them. Circe turns the story of a witch born to a sun god and sea nymph into a story that is much more than the role she plays within The Odyssey, making her more than a woman who first turns Odysseus’s men to swine, but rather a formidable character of her own right, with growth and challenges to overcome. The story of Circe, as depicted by Madeline Miller, defies the negative light that Ancient Greek myth often portrays women, and instead makes her a character that is relatable in a sense of defying the limits and expectations often set upon women by society. Stories such as Miller’s play a valuable role in the modern classical field, allowing readers to see representation within a historically exclusive pursuit.

Firstly, Madeline Miller’s books, The Song of Achilles and Circe, both demonstrate a modern approach to the ancient Greek tradition of storytelling, of sharing divine stories that contain lessons and views of the world. There is a very blatant dialog between the two works, just as there is with the original works that they are based off. Both act as modern representations of Ancient Greek epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey respectively. This is not the only overlap between the two novels however, as Odysseus, famed hero and adventurer, is present in both stories, and plays an essential role for both. Initially, in The Song of Achilles, Odysseus fights alongside Achilles during the Trojan War, and later upon his venture home, encounters Circe on her remote aisle. I find these two novels important, as they bring Ancient Greek stories to the modern day, continuing the cycle of sharing variations of essential stories of Greek mythology. However, both The Song of Achilles and Circe defy Ancient Greek myth norms, such as Circe centering around a female character, and The Song of Achilles outright declaring the romance between Patroclus and Achilles rather than alluding to it as comradery. This defiance is definitive of these modern interpretations, and thus make them valuable to the modern field of Classical literature.

Furthermore, Circe expounds upon the role Circe plays within the Odyssey. As demonstrated in both lecture and in the textbook, Circe is often only mentioned in relation to Odysseus and his travels. Consider, within the lecture slides, Circe is mentioned by name only 5 times. In the textbook, the section on Circe is restricted to a short blurb of 238 words. Once more, as is frequent throughout Ancient Greek myth, the female character is portrayed only in relation to the services she provides to the hero which the narrative focuses on. One more, a woman is portrayed as a side character. Additionally, in The Odyssey, Circe is represented initially as an obstacle to Odysseus, something dangerous that the hero of the story must face and overcome. This mirrors the concept introduced in lesson 2, where we discussed Pandora and her creation. The idea of women being inherently bad, or in the case of Pandora, a beautiful casing for a bad nature. This concept is one that holds a lot of weight for me personally, considering the prevalent misogynistic themes that strongly impact how society treats women. Circe portrays the titular Circe as more than just a side character, more than just a stepping stone on Odysseus’s journey home from the war. She is given strength and personality, ambitions and desires that make her an appealing character that modern readers, such as myself, can relate to and admire.

Works Cited

MILLER, MADELINE. The Song of Achilles. New York :Ecco, 2012.

MILLER, MADELINE. Circe: A Novel. Back Bay Books / Little, Brown and Company, 2020.

MICHAEL., MORFORD, MARK. LENARDON, ROBERT J.. SHAM. Classical Mythology, OXFORD UNIV PRESS, S.l., 2018, pp. 522–523.

LA FOND, MARIE. Lesson 8.2 Slides. 12-13.