Circe is a retelling of the story of existing character from Greek mythology. It is written from Circe’s point of view, and it follows her eternal life, being born as a disappointment to her father Helios, to her journey to self-acceptance. Circe is born as a plain nymph and is shunned by her entire family because she is not as beautiful or powerful as the rest. She is meek and, for the most part, invisible. The turning point in the character of Circe is her helping Prometheus, while he is serving his punishment from Zeus. From this moment on, Circe begins to reflect upon herself and have a critical eye on the rest of her family.
Being the talentless and plain member of the family, Circe is cursed to see her siblings form lives of their own, while she is staying forever alone. In her desperation to find love, she finds flowers to turn a mortal man she has been seeing into a god, only to discover that he does not love her. Out of jealousy she uses the flowers to turn the nymph that takes her place into a monster, which will continue to be a dark mark in her existence until the end.
As it turns out, the flowers have no power to them, but it is the power within Circe that can transform, making her a witch. This results in a greater scorn from her father, who shuns her to an island called Aeaea, where she spends several centuries, meeting and aiding the likes of Dionisius, and eventually Odysseus, with whom she ends up having a son Telegonous.
Telegonous grows up and is determined to meet his father. The prophecy, because of which Athena wanted Telegonous dead, becomes reality and Telegonous unintentionally kills his father. Struck with guilt and grief, he brings Penelope and Telemachus, Odysseus’s wife and another son, to Circe’s island. Athena comes to take Odysseus’s son to be a hero in his father’s stead and after Telemachus refuses, Telegonous takes his place. Circe and Telemachus end up falling in love and the story ends with Circe casting a spell on a potion for herself, dreaming of a happy life with Telemachus.
The story portrays themes of isolation and self-acceptance, gives new lives to the mythological characters and provides new perceptions to terms hero, gods, immortality and eternity.
