Who has not thought about what it would be like to be immortal? To wield supreme power over humanity and shape the fates of men. To be able to turn those who would harm you into pigs! For good or ill such powers are the preserve of gods not mortals. Madeline Miller oonders these themes amongst many others in a beautiful reworking of the Greek myths in her second novel, Circe.
Circe is a minor deity who features in Homer’s Odyssey as a foil for the Greek hero Odysseus on his ill-fated journey back to Ithaca after the Trojan war. But here she takes centre-stage and casts a new light on Odysseus and many others from Homer’s cast-list. Many reviewers have characterised Circe as a modern feminist take on Homer but to see it through that narrow prism is to diminish the originality of the book. The power of the story hinges on the fact that Circe is a god who feels compassion for her fellow beings – she is empathic where most gods are indifferent or avaricious.
Her unusual nature inevitably creates friction with her fellow immortals, especially her father Helios. Her first act of rebellion is to console the Titan Prometheus who has been condemned to perpetual punishment for sharing the secret of fire with humans. But it is when she discovers she has rare powers, and uses them to change her love-rival, Scylla, into a monster that she brings Helios’s wrath down upon her.
Fearful of offending Zeus who is alarmed by Circe’s (and her siblings) strange new powers, Helios banishes her to a remote uninhabited island, Aiaia. There she learns from bitter experience that men can be as callous as gods. She offers hospitality to exhausted sailors who chance upon her island – but in return they assault her. Taken off guard at first, she gets her revenge by turning her assailants into pigs.
Her faith in humanity is maintained by encounters with several remarkable men. Amongst these are Daedelus, Jason and Odysseus. Daedelus is the most admirable of these men but her relationship with Odysseus is perhaps the most interesting. Homer portrayed Odysseus as a great hero –flawed yes but on the whole a force for good. Miller emphasises his more ambiguous, dark side – making it obvious that Odysseus could not have survived his many ordeals without immense stores of cunning and ruthlessness. She compounds this with a darker ending to his story, based on the Telegony, a lost epic of unknown origin. This tale culminates with Odysseus’ fateful encounter with Telegonus – his son, albeit unknown to him, by Circe.
Her brushes with mankind work great changes upon Circe. At first she views humans as we view fireflies – fleeting creatures, no sooner born than returned to dust. When she falls in love with one (the poor fisherman Glaucus) she thinks that making him immortal will bring her happiness. Sadly Glaucus proves no more constant than the other gods.
Later, now exiled, she still frets that the men she befriends will soon die. It is not until she bears a son – Telegonus – by Odysseus that she begins to think there may be more to life than immortality. When the powerful goddess Athena demands Telegonus’ life Circe defends him with every last ounce of her strength and wit. Suddenly the short life of her son seems more important than an eternity in Helios’s palace. Later when she meets and falls in love with Telemachus, Odysseus’ elder son, she finds more reasons to value the short and messy lives of mortals.
By ending her story with the Telegony, Miller gives a new twist to Homer’s tales of war and warriors. Her Odysseus, having returned to Ithaca and been reunited with his wife and son, finds little satisfaction at the end of his journey. Unable to reassume his former way of life, or connect with Telemachus, he spends much of his time away from Ithaca fighting other battles to – battles in which he often acts with extreme brutality. A modern reader might diagnose post traumatic stress disorder. So much for heroes.
Long before, Odysseus had refused the goddess Calypso’s offer of immortality. This was his truly heroic act. Circe, in falling in love with Odysseus’ son, also came down on the side of mortals. Given the choice, who among us could resist the temptations of Olympus?
Joe Brannan's Blog 
I really enjoyed this Circe. Not one for Greek mythology I found it very captivating and I was eager to find out more every night. I read this book within a few weeks where as all the other book club books I’ve barely managed half or even had time to pick it up at all.
I enjoyed the way the book was written, I could easily visualise the island of Aiaia, the dark hallways of her fathers home, Scylla!!! It was so enjoyable and made me want to be a god/Titan myself.
I found Circe a true hero and after the decades she lived loved and lost, I was a little disappointed she found love and fell for a mortal. I was expecting that so much but I guess I didn’t see her living forever either now while she was free.
Great book choice !!
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I enjoyed Circe – much more than I thought I would – I have never been terribly interested in this subject – and I am very uneducated as far as the Greek myths are concerned – beyond recognizing the names. My first reaction was that the daily trials and tribulations of gods, nymphs and men were a little soap opera -ish – but I really enjoyed the description of Circe’s island – this was very rich and compelling reading – and I actually really enjoyed the spell-making and organization and development of Circe’s witchcraft. There was uncertainty and suspense in the plot, and very engaging – and lasting – descriptions of the landscapes and seascapes in the storytelling – Debbie
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Just finished the book. I have been to about 10 Greek islands, but have never really known anything about Greek mythology, so I was quite keen to get into this story.
I thought it was a very clever way of telling a variety of Greek myths through the eyes of enchantress Circe (yes I looked that word up). By providing a small bit of detail about a select few myths, it didn’t take too much focus off of Circe’s story but I did find myself moments to read a bit more into them as I went along (Wikipedia is great for that). Perhaps I might peruse Stephen Fry’s ‘Mythos’ in the near future too?
I found it easy to create vivid pictures of certain places: the island of Aiaia, the strait that Charybdis and Scylla occupy, the Palace of Knossos. Miller’s writing style is very descriptive.
The main thing that struck me is just how cruel the Gods are. The idea that ‘people’ with power can treat others less fortunate than them with such disdain didn’t sit well with me. They treated Circe like dirt simply for being different. I think there are certainly plenty of examples of that in the real world today! It was no wonder Circe wanted nothing to do with the Gods, instead opting for a simple life with her mortal love and choosing to go to the Underworld when her time came. It’s okay for life to be simple, so long as you have someone to listen to you and accept you for who you are.
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Dan – I think you are what is known as an active reader! Thanks for suggesting Mythos – I might just read that!
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Good to se that so many of you liked this book. Definitely the most popular yet. It is easy to see why the story should be so popular – a neglected child who finally rebels against her callous parents will always claim our sympathy. And they way that Circe lived her life far beyond the expectations of those tyrannical parents also endears her to us. Several of you also mentioned the beautiful writing – mellifluously transparent and perfectly judged to convey the atmosphere of a world remote from ours. And finally there was the juxtaposition of gods and mortals. The temptations of immortality are obvious enough but Circe seemed to think that they came at too high a cost. Final Score: Mortals 1-0 Gods.
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I absolutely loved and devoured this book, much like Scylla devoured all those sailors. Since having Harrison nearly four years ago I have barely read a book. I’ve listened to many audiobooks but mostly in the middle of the night whilst up feeding Harrison or more recently on long car journeys for work.
Since Circe was selected for book club whilst we were all still largely in lock down and my opportunities to listen to the book practically non-existent I decided I’d better actually read this one and I’m so glad I did. I absolutely loved it and found myself going to bed early so I’d have enough time to fit a decent chunk of reading in. I enjoyed all the Greek myths when I was a child but can’t say I remembered all the players that well or their relations to one another. I love how Miller gives a little refresher to all of the characters as they join the storyline and then takes it further as she adds her own characterisations.
I found the descriptions of everything so rich and vivid – from the halls of Helios to Scylla, to the island of Aiaia – and that moment when Circe first turned a crew into pigs! I could practically hear the sounds of crunching bones as I was reading. I found Miller’s style of writing really interesting – it felt like a really modern story although quite obviously set thousands of years ago.
I was really happy with the ending of the book; for me it felt appropriate that Circe should decide to leave in body what she had left behind in mind and spirit a long time before.
Not only so that she may live out life as a mortal with Telemachus, but also to have the opportunity to live out a different eternity in the underworld with her son Telegonus. Because what point is there in immortality if everyone you love is outside of your reach?
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