Circe

Circe

Who: Nymph/witch/queen in Homer’s Odyssey; weaver like Athena, an apprentice of the goddess

What: turns Odysseus’ men into pigs with her wand

• Only Eurylochus sees trap and escapes
• Weaver like Athena, an apprentice of the goddess
• Hermes gives Odysseus herb that makes him impervious to Circe’s magic; tells him how to control her
• Circe shocked, offers herself to him in fear and awe (speaks of prophecy about Odysseus)
• Odysseys threatens her with sword and makes her turn his men back
• He sleeps with her; stays with her for a year
• Tells him about visiting underworld and Tiresias and how (offering blood)

Where: Aeaean island

Significance: illustrates Greek fear of the seductive powers of women and ability to “unman” them; warring over sexual power; Hermes—not Odysseus’ usual mentor Athena—helps him overcome Circe; Odysseus overcomes her by embodying traditional feminine traits: cunning and deceit

Pg. 318-328 Norton