Circe Summary and Analysis

Section Three Summary Odysseus and Telegonus (Chapters 15–20)

This section begins the morning after Circe’s rape and the slaughter of the men. She is deeply shaken and has no one to comfort her, but a memory of Daedalus’s quiet wisdom gives her resolve. She needs it because her island is besieged by sailors, hungry for food and flesh. Most she turns into pigs, except for the few who do not intend her harm.

It is under these circumstances that Odysseus lands on Aiaia. His men proceed him and are transformed. When Odysseus follows, looking for his crew, Circe recognizes that he is extraordinary among mortal men. They make a truce, and she agrees to undo the spell. For the next year, Odysseus and his men remain on Aiaia. Circe and Odysseus become lovers, although he is honest about Penelope, his wife, and his desire to return to her and to his son on Ithaca. Circe wishes to have Odysseus as her own, yet accepts his love for Penelope. Together on Aiaia, Circe and Odysseus develop a domestic calm. However, Odysseus relates his many tales of the Trojan War and reveals his cruelty as a soldier and leader. He is dubbed the Best of the Greeks, yet it is a terrible “best.”

When Odysseus leaves, he is unaware that Circe is pregnant. Her pregnancy is initially difficult, and she is plagued by sickness. Childbirth is agonizing, and Circe must cut the child out herself. It is a boy, mortal, whom she names Telegonus. With his birth, her greatest need for witchcraft arrives with the sudden appearance of Athena. Athena demands the child, intending to kill him because of a prophecy, which she does not share with Circe. Circe boldly refuses, and once Athena leaves, Circe protects Telegonus by sealing off the island, a spell that must be renewed monthly. Telegonus is a screaming, angry baby, and Circe struggles with motherhood alone. She loves Telegonus fiercely and is infinitely patient with him. He grows into an intelligent and loving child who embraces life on the island. He is aware his mother is a goddess, although he has no powers and does not revere hers. In time, after asking about his father, Circe tells him of Odysseus, great hero of the Trojan War and ruler of Ithaca.

As Telegonus reaches adolescence, he seeks his independence and longs to leave the island. On his 16th birthday, he announces he will sail to Ithaca to meet his father. Unknown to Circe, Hermes has befriended Telegonus and encouraged the plan, including helping him build a boat. Circe is furious and terrified; her spell against Athena cannot extend beyond the island. However, Circe recognizes she cannot stop Telegonus’s voyage, only protect him. She casts a spell on the rickety boat so it will not sink. And she breaks her exile to dive to the ocean floor, to confront the feared Trygon, whose tail carries a poison lethal to mortals and painful to gods. She is willing to endure that pain to borrow the tail. Rewarding her bravery, Trygon lets her take it unharmed. Back on Aiaia, Circe fashions a spear with the tail and sheaths it in leather. Then she instructs Telegonus on using the spear and how to approach Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus. Circe loads the boat with gifts for Telegonus to give, along with other necessities and comforts, all a mother might provide a son leaving home for the first time to go forth into a dangerous world.

Section Three Analysis Odysseus and Telegonus (Chapters 15–20)

The contrast of Circe and Pasiphaë as good and bad witch, respectively, narrows in the early events of this section. Although Circe insists she applies her destructive power justly as she transforms crew after crew of sailors into pigs, there is evidence that she is driven by vengeance, not justice. She notes that she has little interest in what was “in the hearts” of the men she transformed.

In this section, the plot catches up with the mythological story of Circe and Odysseus. In Homer’s tale, Circe is one more enchanted woman who Odysseus meets and another lover and bearer of his children. Here, with Circe as the central figure, Odysseus becomes a “breeder” of sorts. Eventually, Odysseus sails on, disappearing from view. This twist symbolizes the fundamental significance of this retelling. Instead of Odysseus’s battles, it is Circe’s “battles” that remain front and center.

Although the events in these chapters almost all take place on Aiaia, Circe covers an epic distance through motherhood, confronting eternal difficulties of carrying, birthing, protecting, caring for, and shaping the character of a child. In her confrontation with Athena when Telegonus is born, she must match her power with a supernatural being, as heroes are traditionally called to do. This scene also confirms why the gods feared witchcraft, for Circe’s spell successfully repels even such a powerful goddess.

In her relationship with Telegonus are contrasts that speak to the natural laws of action and reaction, of struggle between equal and opposite forces. Determined to find the spell to protect Telegonus, holding him close as she works feverishly, she makes them both miserable. Her fervent desire to keep him with her on Aiaia is met by his fervent yearning to see the wider world. When she insists on retrieving the Trygon’s tail, the deadliest poison, to assure Telegonus’s safety, she sets in motion a tragedy to come. Circe’s power continues to be destructive, even if destruction is not her intent. And in her extreme devotion may be the elements and outcomes of a fatal character flaw.