“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for your senses to grow sharper!”
-W. B. Yeats
Who doesn’t love magic? All of us, at least once in our lives, have thought how easy life would be if there was magic. Even people who don’t like fantasy, have wished for a way to disappear from one place and materialise in another just so they wouldn’t have to go through the traffic.
As a child, I wanted to sit on Aladdin’s magic carpet and travel through the world. After I got hooked on Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, there was no turning back. I had magic all around me. I wanted to go with the fellowship to destroy the One Ring. I wanted a wand or better yet a staff to cast spells.
But people were not as accepting of magic and witchcraft as today. Especially in the Middle ages, thousand of people especially women were killed on the suspicion of being witches. Some were cast away and exiled. It was during that time that magic got a really bad name. Everyone started fearing magic. Whether the magic was real or not remains to be seen. We are now going to look at the story of another such witch who was exiled for being a witch. This is the story of Circe from the Greek Mythology who lived on the island of Aiaia and was well-known sorceress and enchantress who changed men into pigs.
It was the time after the war between the Titans, the old gods, and the Olympians, the new gods. It was the time of relative peace and prosperity in the world. Zeus, the Olympian god of thunder, ruled over the world along with his fellow Olympians. Some Titans were punished and sent to Tartarus, a place of eternal torture. Some other Titans who accepted the rule of Zeus were allowed to live on earth. One amongst them was Helios, the sun god. He, Oceanus, the sea god before Poseidon and some other Titans lived on earth or below. They were not happy being under the rule of Zeus but they knew that they had no other choice or they would be sent to Tartarus as well.
Oceanus was father to all the beings of the sea. He had a daughter named Perse. She was a beautiful water nymph. When Helios saw her, he was attracted to her instantly and wanted to bed her. But Perse insisted that Helios get married to her. Helios was not very happy with this arrangement but agreed to do so. Thus, Helios and Perse got married. After a few months, Perse gave birth to a daughter. She was named Circe. Perse had expected to have a daughter as beautiful as herself but was sorely disappointed. Circe was neither beautiful nor had a sweet voice. Helios was also not impressed with his child. Thus, right from birth, Circe was ignored by both her parents. Circe had three more siblings. After Circe, Perse gave birth to twins named Pasiphae and Perses. They both were beautiful and their mother couldn’t be prouder. Finally, Perse gave birth to a boy named Aeetes.
Circe was a loner. She never fit in those grand halls of Helios. Her twin siblings always mocked her and bullied her. She was laughed at by other nymphs and gods and goddesses. Her parents had no hope of getting her married to some god. They knew no one would accept a nymph who was not beautiful. Circe, finally, found some company when Aeetes, her youngest sibling, was given to her to raise. Circe was very happy. She spent all her time and energy looking after Aeetes. But Aeetes was a strange one. He was quite a philosopher. He knew more about the mysteries of the world than anyone Circe knew.
Time passed and it was time for Pasiphae, Circe’s sister, to get married. She was married off to King Minos who was the son of Zeus. After Pasiphae’s marriage, Perses left and settled on Persia. Aeetes was also sent away by Helios to the distant land of Colchis and he ruled there as the king. Circe was, once again, left alone.
One day, she met a mortal fisherman named Glaucus. She fell in love with him and wanted to make him an immortal and get married to him. She pleaded the gods to change him into a god. But everyone refused. She was adamant and decided to find her own way. Glaucus and Circe spent all the time together. One day, they went to an abandoned beach where Circe found some unusual flowers. Glaucus was tired so he went to sleep. But Circe was intrigued by the flowers. As she went near them, she felt a strange sensation. Deep inside she knew what the flowers were and what she needed to do. She took the flowers and crushed them. Then she put the sap of the flowers on Glaucus’ lips. He transformed in front of her eyes. He was no longer a mere mortal. She had turned him into an immortal being of the sea. She was so happy and knew that her dream of getting married to him was going to be fulfilled. But fate had other plans. Glaucus announced that he would like to get married to Scylla, the beautiful water nymph and Pasiphae’s friend. Circe was heartbroken. And well, hell hath no fury like the woman whose heart has been broken by someone she made immortal. She decided to use the flowers on Scylla. Circe put the sap of the flowers into the waters where Scylla lived. Scylla turned into a hideous monster with six heads and many legs.
Circe was deeply ashamed of what she had done. She wanted to confess everything in front of her father. She did just that but no one believed her as everyone thought of her as a simpleton with no beauty and even lesser brains. Hearing what Circe had done, Aeetes visited her one day. Aeetes convinced Helios that Circe indeed had the power to transform people and it wasn’t just the sap of flowers that had changed Glaucus and Scylla. Aeetes then explained to Circe who she was. She was a witch. She had the power to become a sorceress, a great enchantress. Aeetes also told her that he himself was very good at magic. He had the power to summon the dragons. Their siblings Pasiphae and Perses were also sorcerers. Pasiphae was especially gifted with poisons and Perses had the power to summon the dead as well as bring people back from the dead. Circe was stunned hearing all this. Soon Aeetes left and Helios called Circe to his court. Helios told her that Zeus was unhappy with the fact that four of Helios’ children were dabbling in magic. Helios wanted to keep peace with Zeus. So, they had together decided to send Circe in exile and make an example out of her. Zeus and Helios firmly believed that these powers and miracles should be
performed only by the powerful gods and not some ugly nymph.
Circe was exiled to the island of Aiaia. She was left alone and unwanted. But for the first time, Circe felt that she was truly free as know one was paying any attention to her. Circe thought about what Aeetes had told her about witchcraft. She was in the company of many animals. She started practising and honing her skills. She started experimenting with different herbs and plants. She could understand what the animals were saying and what they needed. She could feel the magic in her very being, running through her veins. She flourished on the remote island of Aiaia. She came to be known as the witch of Aiaia. Gods and other divine beings started sending their unruly daughters to the island as punishment. They thought that spending time on the island with no one but the ugly nymph would keep them on the straight and narrow. Circe opened her house to these girls.
One day, a ship came to Aiaia. The sailors were lost and in dire need of food. Circe welcomed them and fed them. But after knowing that she was alone, the captain and his sailors raped her. While she was being assaulted, Circe could feel her power rising in her. It burst forth and Circe turned all the men into pigs. And so started the series of men coming to the island to take advantage of a lonely lady and then the lady turning them into pigs. Circe had finally embraced her craft and her power. After few months, Odysseus, the Trojan War hero, stopped at her island. Circe turned his men into pigs but couldn’t do it to Odysseus as he was protected by a magical herb named Moly. Odysseus was different than all the other men she had come across in her life. He won her over and requested her to change his men back. She agreed and Odysseus lived on her island for a year. In that time, they became lovers. When Odysseus left, Circe was sad but not heartbroken. She was glad that she had met a man like Odysseus. After few months, Circe gave birth to Odysseus’s son Telegonus. He was just like his father who loved adventure. When Telegonus turned sixteen, he went to Ithaca in search of his father Odysseus and half-brother Telemachus. But
Telegonus became the reason for Odysseus’ death.
Circe was alone on her island with her herbs and animals when Telegonus came back from Ithaca. He had brought his half-brother, Telemachus and Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, along with him. Circe, once again, opened her home for strangers. They all bonded over Odysseus. She finally had a family. She was a powerful sorceress. She was perhaps more powerful than her siblings. She was the only one who had battled with the ancient ocean god and won his spear to protect her son. She was the only one who could cast spells and charms that were strong enough to keep the goddess Athena, the daughter of Zeus, away from her son. She was immensely powerful but was not like other gods who used their powers for selfish reasons. Helios and Zeus didn’t know the extent of her powers. For them she was just an ugly nymph who was exiled. But Circe was the most powerful sorceress of her time who opened her home for those who didn’t have a place in this world.
Penelope said, ‘What makes a witch, then? If it is not divinity?’
‘I do not know for certain,’ I said. ‘I once thought it was passed through blood, but Telegonus has no spells in him. I have come to believe it is mostly will.’
-Book ‘Circe’ by Madeline Miller
-Surashree Joshi
Faculty in English
Links to some more information on Circe:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Circe-Greek-mythology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circe
Link to Madeline Miller’s book ‘Circe’:
https://www.amazon.in/Circe-International-Bestseller-Shortlisted-Fiction/dp/1526614677/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=circe&qid=1595055564&sr=8-1