ODYSSEY MYTHOLOGY
Who Is Circe?
The enchantress of Aeaea — first an enemy, then the most useful guide of the whole voyage
Circe is the daughter of the sun god Helios and the Oceanid Perse; among her brothers is Aeetes, king of Colchis. She lives on the island of Aeaea, in a house of dressed stone in the middle of the woods, with tame lions and wolves prowling at the door — animals that were once men who came ashore.
A scouting party from Odysseus’s ship finds the house. Circe serves them cheese, honey and wine mixed with a drug; every man who drinks becomes a pig. Only Eurylochus, who waited outside, escapes to bring word.
As Odysseus walks up to the house alone, Hermes gives him the herb moly: black at the root, milk-white in flower. The potion has no hold on him; Circe is astonished and gives his men back. From then on the island is not a trap but a halt — the crew stay for a year.
Circe matters most at the parting. She teaches Odysseus how to reach the land of the dead and how to consult Tiresias; when he returns she describes, one by one, the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, and the cattle of the Sun. Every right decision in the rest of the voyage rests on her directions.
Role in the epic
Circe shows that in this epic an enemy and an ally can be the same person. Beating her is not enough; the real gain is listening to her afterwards. In the Odyssey knowledge carries you further than a sword.
How you meet them in the game
In the game the Circe chapter has two stages: first the potion and the moly, then the long halt of the crew on the island. How you approach her sets flags such as circeHostile and shapes the prophecy you receive in the land of the dead; the time spent on the island is written into your calendar as years.
Quick facts
- Role
- Witch-goddess, guide
- Origin
- Island of Aeaea (traditionally identified with Monte Circeo on the Italian coast)
- Family
- Father Helios, mother Perse
- Epithet
- “The dread goddess of the lovely braids”
Related locations
- Circe’s Island (Aeaea) — A cup of wine, a pinch of magic, a year as guests
- The Underworld — A living man’s voyage to the country of shades
- The Sirens — The only man to hear the song that kills all who hear it
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Odysseus · Penelope · Polyphemus · Calypso
Odyssey gods and monsters · Odyssey map: the 14 stops · The Odyssey story