Circe was a minor goddess of witchcraft who lived on Aeaea, an island in the Mediterranean. She is the daughter of Helios, the god of the sun, and Perse, an ocean nymph. (Nardo, Spaeth) Circe is most famous for her role in Homer's The Odyssey. In the story, Odysseus and his crew are stopped at an island. Some men are sent to investigate the island, and they discover it is guarded by many vicious animals, who are actually men who have been trapped under Circe's spells. The men are led Eurylochus, one of Odysseus's most trusted men. The group is trapped by Circe and all of the men are changed into pigs, except for Eurylochus, who escaped before the spell was cast. Eurylochus then returned to Odysseus to tell him what happened. (Encyclopedia of World Mythology Vol. 2, 244-247)
Odysseus decided to storm Circe's island. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, gifted him with a magical herb which allowed him to resist Circe's spells. Odysseus attacked Circe, who immediately bowed down to him. She was then forced to turn all of the pigs back to men. Odysseus's group was about to leave, but Circe asks them if they would like to stay on the island in luxury. This sounded good to the group, so they decided to stay for a year. Circe can be seen as a reflection of women's values in Greece at the time. She was very caring, and would do any job around the house without a question. However, Circe was also thought to be a strong and deceitful adversary, which is precisely what Greeks thought every woman was. (Encyclopedia of World Mythology Vol. 2, 244-247)
Odysseus decided to storm Circe's island. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, gifted him with a magical herb which allowed him to resist Circe's spells. Odysseus attacked Circe, who immediately bowed down to him. She was then forced to turn all of the pigs back to men. Odysseus's group was about to leave, but Circe asks them if they would like to stay on the island in luxury. This sounded good to the group, so they decided to stay for a year. Circe can be seen as a reflection of women's values in Greece at the time. She was very caring, and would do any job around the house without a question. However, Circe was also thought to be a strong and deceitful adversary, which is precisely what Greeks thought every woman was. (Encyclopedia of World Mythology Vol. 2, 244-247)
Circe and Odysseus's men, who have been turned into pigs.
Works Cited
"Circe." The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman Mythology. Don Nardo. Ed.
Barbette Spaeth. Greenhaven Press, 2002. 82. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 28
Mar.2014
"Circe." UXL Encyclopedia of World Mythology. Vol. 2. Detroit: UXL, 2009. 244-247. Gale
VirtualReference Library. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
"The sorceress Circe greets Odysseuss men, whom she has transformed into pigs." The
Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece. Don Nardo. Ed. Robert B. Kebric.
Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. World History In Context. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.