Circe Literary Elements

Greek mythology, classical literature, fantasy, adventure, feminist revision

The world of the Greek gods. Most of the action takes place on the deserted island of Aiaia.

First-person narration from the point of view of Circe. Told in the past tense.

Frank, confessional, defiant, wry

Circe is the protagonist. Antagonists including Helios, a crew of sailors, and Athena.

Circe is exiled to a deserted island and is forced to face threats and challenges alone.

Circe’s son, Telegonus, leaves the island to meet his father, Odysseus.

When Circe is left alone on the island she shouts, “Will no one dare to face me?”, before adding, “So you see, in my way, I was eager for what came.’

Her statement foreshadows the series of uninvited guests who are soon to arrive on Aiaia.

After transforming Scylla into a sea monster, Circe feels guilty and hopes that her rival is “finding satisfaction.” She then adds, “Which, of course, now I know she was.”

Circe’s understated aside refers to her later shocking discovery that Scylla has been feeding on sailors.

Circe is loosely based on the Odyssey by the ancient Greek poet, Homer. Composed around 700 BC, the Odyssey relates the adventures of Odysseus, Prince of Ithaca. Homer’s poem describes the obstacles faced by his hero on his way home from the Trojan Wars. His challenges include monsters, interference by the gods and an encounter with the witch, Circe.

In Homer’s Odyssey Circe represents a brief diversion in the great adventures of Odysseus. While she initially turns his men to pigs, she fails to do the same to Odysseus. Humbled, Circe kneels at the great hero’s feet and invites him into her bed.

Using the Odyssey as inspiration, Miller creates her own version of the meeting between Odysseus and Circe, with Circe as the heroine of the story. Odysseus appears in only two chapters of the story (the same amount of text dedicated to Circe in Homer’s Odyssey). When the two characters meet, Miller presents a battle of wits between Circe and Odysseus from which they emerge as equals.

Weaving imagery plays an important role in Circe. Circe’s loom is a central motif, emphasizing Miller’s focus on the female realm. The pleasure Circe takes in the weaving process highlights her capacity for creativity and hard work—for, as we are reminded, she could accomplish the same task more easily with witchcraft. The loom also becomes the site of Circe’s growing friendship with Penelope.

The image of weaving also relates to the creation of stories. In Greek myth, the Fates are depicted as weaving the destinies of mortals into a tapestry. In Circe, this metaphor is extended as the protagonist weaves an extraordinary life for herself out of unpromising materials. Weaving is also a fitting image when thinking of the way Miller combines different strands of classical literature in her novel.

Although immortality is considered the great gift possessed by gods, Circe sees it as a curse.

Circe thinks of herself as the antithesis of her ruthless sister, Pasiphaë. Nevertheless, Pasiphaë suggests that she and Circe are essentially the same and points out the parallels between them. Both of them were powerless in their father’s realm. Both of them have been victims of the whims of the men in their family. Finally, they both have a talent for witchcraft which, Pasiphaë suggests, springs from their anger at being oppressed.

“I was sorry then that I had not used those tricks of eyes and lips that all our kind have.”

When Circe speaks of eyes and lips, she is referring to the feminine wiles the other goddesses use to enchant the opposite sex.

“The still air crawled across my skin and shadows reached out their hands.”

Here, personification is used to describe Circe’s fear when she is first left alone on the island.