There is Circe herself, a minor goddess with the voice of a mortal. That comparison of gods vs mortals come up again and again, recurring in ways large and small over the book’s course. (Which is not to say there aren’t terrible mortals - that is, indeed, the whole genesis of the pig thing). It’s only after she is exiled that she begins to grow into herself, to decide who and what she wants to be, and to contrast the gods against mortals and find the gods wanting. That includes Circe, who comes off as a victim for a solid third of the book. Miller’s Circe strips those glasses off quickly and forces us to confront the reality: the male deities holding most of the power all the gods in it primarily for their own enjoyment, amusement or personal gain and the terrible, terrible toll that takes on the people (and gods) who get in their way. The Greek gods can never truly be considered kind or even nice, but we tend to view them through rose-colored glasses anyway. Where it’s power truly lies is in the reframing of how we think about the Greek gods. If you are looking for a big plot focus, this won’t be the book for you, and it will may read slowly as a result. But every single event is viewed through Circe’s lens - what it teaches her, how it influences her, and the changes it causes to her everyday life. Things happen, to be sure, as we see Circe exiled to her island, receive various visitors, even make the occasional trip herself. But here, Miller gives Circe the room to breathe, the room to show us the why and the how of that Circe we’re all familiar with - and then takes it beyond The Odyssey, to tell us what happens after.Īs such, it is a quiet and literary sort of novel. Like many woman and witches in myth and legend, Circe’s reputation is not a nice one after all, she’s best known for turning men into pigs and delaying Odysseus’ return journey home. This is, in essence, Circe’s life story, told in first person and explicitly through her eyes.
Exiled to an island by her father, Circe attempts to craft a fulfilling life for herself despite the meddling of the gods, her siblings, and errant visitors.
Surely, there is more to tell.Ĭirce, daughter of the sun god Helios, grows up in his court, naive and innocent, until the discovery of her witchcraft and its potency angers the gods.
Time to circle back on a book I first reading during the Great Hiatus and recently re-read in the past few months: Circe by Madeline Miller, a retelling of Greek myth focused on that mysterious witch from The Odyssey, who turns men into pigs.
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