Circe by Madeline Miller (2018)

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐In her second novel, Madeline Miller gives us an intimate glimpse into the life of the witch-goddess, Circe, from the famed Odyssey tales. You may remember the story of the witch of Aiaia, who turned the men who visited her island into pigs, but I’m certain you’ve never heard Circe’s side of the story. As the immortal-born daughter of a nymph and the sun Titan, Helios, Circe lived in stagnant perpetuity within her father’s halls. But when she dares to challenge the status quo, to step into her ‘unnatural’ witch powers, she is shunned by the immortals and banished to a small island. Yet, this is the true beginning of Circe’s story. As she comes into her own, Circe must confront her past, define her future, and decide what she will fight for. Fierce, sweeping, and tranquilly divine, Madeline Miller brings us yet another epic tale through beautifully intimate storytelling.

[Spoilers below!]

[Spoiler Warning]

Overview

As with her first novel, The Song of Achilles, Miller excels at breathing life into the rather unsung parts of Greek myth. In Circe, we get to imagine the experience of an immortal life, but through the eyes of one who is shunned from the rest of her ilk. As such, it's an embittered, almost human, perspective of immortals. We also get to see Circe's side of the story- why the witch of Aiaia has been turning men into pigs and how Odysseus came to her fabled shores. Finally, we see her fierce love for her son, Telegonus, and how she's truly just a mother who will do anything for her child. Overall, it's a fascinating novel that explores the ancient myth through a different looking glass as we try to understand the humanity that underscores it all.

Notable Characters

Circe:

While Circe is traditionally depicted more as a 'predatory female' throughout the Greek myths with her witchcraft and trickery, Madeline Miller takes a different approach- a story of a woman discovering her own power after being given none. She quickly became a disappointment to her immortal parents, lacking the beauty, fire, and power that should have come with her parentage. Circe spent innumerable centuries withering under the scathing remarks of her divine family members and searching for somewhere to belong. After stumbling into her own power through the labor-intensive, will-dependent witchcraft, she's banished to the uninhabited island of Aiaia for an eternity where she learns to find purpose and power in herself.

Circe may be an immortal, but she's a relatable main character. She doesn't fit in, she makes mistakes, and she learns through struggle and strife. All arguably human traits, which makes the reader still empathize with her perspective. I think Miller does an impressive job allowing us to imagine what immortality may feel like, but still showing its faults through a flawed immortal character. Throughout the novel, Circe makes a comment every now and then about how little she knew at the time- she's telling the story from a position of future knowledge but we get to go on the journey with her..

Odysseus:

Our hero of old is seen through a few different lenses in this story. The first is the most well known. Circe is infatuated with him and relishes his company while he's on her island. He tells her stories of his travels and she marvels at all the traits he's famous for today. Yet, I found it so interesting as we later look at Odysseus' life through his son, Telemachus', eyes- for he found it to be a life lived poorly. Telemachus listens patiently to Circe as she tells him the stories a his father he barely knew. He ends by commenting how his father spent his time tricking, lying, and manipulating for the sake of pride, selfishness, and greed. When given the duality of these perspectives, Miller brilliantly highlights how there really are two sides to every coin.

Telemachus:

Odysseus' son is the foil to his renowned father- he wants no glory, no fame and longs for a simple life. While his father was restless coming home, trying to mold himself into a domestic life that didn't suit his adventurous spirit, Telemachus is a man who knows who he is. He is completely content with his anonymity, going as far as to reject Athena's offer of fame. This simple knowledge of one's identity extends to Circe too- he understands who she is and what she needs to do at the novel's end. In Telemachus, Circe finds a kindred spirit with whom she shares a peaceful comfort.

Themes

Identity:

For the beginning half of this novel, we see Circe struggle with her lack of identity. She's a powerless goddess stuck in an environment where an immortal's abilities define them. She reclusive, weak, and desperate for a kindred spirit, which she finds briefly in Prometheus, after his punishment for defying Zeus. This interaction shapes her life because he's the only example she'll ever see of someone choosing to live differently than the rest of her family. After she's banished to Aiaia, Circe begins to come into her own. She defines herself by each crushed herb, each whispered spell, each footprint in the mud. Slowly, Circe learns who she wants to be. There's a reflective, methodical tone throughout the novel, as she looks back from time to time, commenting on what she thought or how a younger version of herself would have acted. She struggles with guilt and reconciling the rash, jealous actions of her greenhead with the woman she becomes later on. It takes Circe the whole novel to discover who she is, but it makes her peace all the more satisfying at the end, knowing what it took to shape her.

We see identity explored thorough Odysseus as well. Upon his return to Ithaca, he was restless, and angry, seeking reasons to leave for adventures because his identity as a warrior and councilman was useless on his island. He couldn't adapt to a domestic life, to the detriment of his faithful wife and son and ultimately to his demise.

With each character, we see how the events of their life shape their identity, but only the ones who come to terms with all that happened to them truly are at peace.

Power:

The concept of writing a character who lives in a world ruled by power and yet has none is in itself fascinating. Circe is ostracized growing up, her powerlessness distilled into a quiet, low-lying rage. When she finally realizes she can transform beings through witchcraft- through plants, and spells, and will- she first uses her power for love. But when it turns sour, she quickly uses it for jealous hate, a choice that haunts her for the rest of the novel. While other god's power comes from effortless, inborn ability, Circe's power slowly builds out of confidence in herself. She's able to withstand Athena's wrath for years and does so calmly, even under the pressure. Her power is built through experiences: the moly flowers, Scylla, the first sailors she turned into pigs, tending her island, defying the gods, saving her son, retrieving the poisoned tail, killing Scylla, changing herself. Each one of these a brick in the wall of her confidence that is able to withstand the greatest storms by the end of the novel.

Sacrifice:

From the beginning conversation with Prometheus, sacrifice is etched into Circe's personality. Even if she displays it unwillingly at times, she sacrifices for Aeetes, for Glaucous, for Pasiphae, for Odysseus, and most of all for her son Telegonus. Her witchcraft comes always at some cost- effort, time, or resources. The most obvious display is when she goes deep into the ocean to retrieve the Trigon's tail. She endures the pressure of the ocean and is willing to take on the endless pain of its venom in order to give it to her son for his protection. Circe shows that to love something is to sacrifice willingly for it, a concept that is foreign to immortals but ingrained into mere mortals.

Author Novelties

Madeline Miller does a brilliant job really putting us in the world of Ancient Greece. All of her similes, descriptions, and characterizations are crafted with the natural world and ancient practices in mind. It's these immersive descriptions that really bring her world to life. Here's some great examples just in two pages:

The other reason I love her writing is the human intricacies she gives to long-forgotten characters. If the traditional myths are a pencil sketch, Madeline Miller's renditions are full CGI. She breaths life, flaws, hopes, dreams, pains, and joys into these historic characters. From the scars on their hands from their trade, to the glimmer in their eyes as they look at ones they love, this author is truly gifted in brining myths back to life.

The Ending

In the end, Circe has found peace. She undoes the hateful actions to Scylla, setting her free in a sense, returns the Trigon's venomous tail after fulfilling her purpose for it, and transplants the original moly flowers, grown from the blood of the gods. With these, she turns her witchcraft on to herself, using their power to reveal her own true form, which she believes to be a mortal. We don't get to see the result of this final spell, but we know that whether or not it works is inconsequential- Circe has lived, loved, and sacrificed for those closest to her. She's finally at peace with who she is and what she's done in her long life, and that is what matters most of all.

Final Thoughts

I thought this was a beautiful book that explored a woman's identity slowly, intentionally, showing all the mistakes that come with living a life. We see Circe as a daughter, a sister, a lover, a mother, and finally a woman all her own. There are transitions and pains within all those roles, but watching her develop and become so self-assured with herself and her path was a beautiful process. Highly recommend to anyone, this was an exquisite book.