Literature / Circe

"But in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth."

"But gods are born of ichor and nectar, their excellences already bursting from their fingertips. So they find their fame by proving what they can mar: destroying cities, starting wars, breeding plagues and monsters. All that smoke and savour rising so delicately from our altars. It leaves only ash behind."

Circe is a 2017 novel by Madeline Miller. It retells the Greek myths from the point of view of the sorceress Circe, she of turning-men-into-pigs fame, drawing in particular from The Metamorphoses and The Trojan Cycle.

Circe grows up an outcast in the house of Helios, neither beautiful like her nymph mother or radiantly powerful like her Titan father. But Circe finds her niche in witchcraft, a terrible art that results in her exile by the gods. Banished to the remote island of Aiaia, Circe grows into a powerful sorceress, crosses paths with a variety of mythological figures, and comes to question divinity itself and the larger world.

The novel is Miller's third published work, after her Breakthrough Hit The Song of Achilles (the events of which this novel references) and a short story Galatea.

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Tropes that apply to Circe

• Abusive Parents: There are plenty examples, both immortal and mortal. In the case of the immortals, they really have little to no genuine love for their children and decide their worth based on usefulness: if you're a powerful boy that will bring them fame or a pretty girl that can be married off.
  • Oceanus nonchalantly tells Helios (who despite preferring each others company to the gods as fellow titans, are “at each other’s throats”) he can “have” his daughter Perse if he wants. Though she was trying to seduce Helios anyways it’s possible he would have married her off anyways. His attitude is like he’s offering someone a piece of candy from a bowl.
  • As Circe is neither a boy or as beautiful as the other nymphs both of Circe's parents are horrible to her. Her mother is actively malicious a lot of the time, belittling and bullying and her at any opportunity. Meanwhile, her father barely notices her existence until she annoys him, at which point he scorches much of her flesh off.
    • Perse was also neglectful to Aeetes due to Helios not seeing a successful future for him at first, but Circe stepped in as a Parental Substitute.
    • While Helios may occasionally treat his children that are useful to him, such as accepting Pasiphae's request to temporarily free Circe so she can help her or giving Aeetes his own kingdom, he ultimately only cares about himself, will throw any of his children under the bus if it benefits him more and any kindness only extends to the useful ones. As Pasiphae puts it, he doesn't care if his children are good or bad, just as long as he can use them for power. As far as Helios is concerned, not disowning Circe for being a "burden" due to her being deemed unattractive by their standards and being unable to find her a husband is kindness and pity, though it's clear that the real reason is purely because, whether he likes it or not, she is still his child and he would consider it an insult to himself if any one of his children weren't treated properly. After she is deemed a threat to Zeus he outright calls her a disgrace, is quick to exile her without so much as a goodbye and does nothing to stop a group of mortal sailors from raping her.
    • Even when he has a daughter that is useful to him he really doesn’t care much. He forces Pasiphae into an unwanted marriage and she is sure that he would subject her to horrible treatment himself if it helped with his alliance to Zeus. His interactions with his daughters that tend to his sheep imply that he beats them if they don't care for them properly.
  • Pasiphae also neglects her own daughter and willingly ensured that her son would be born a flesh eating monster for personal fame and otherwise keeps it locked in a cage.
  • Glaucus's father used to beat him if he failed to bring in enough fish.
  • Odysseus ended up becoming one to Telemachus after returning to Ithaca due to his paranoia and ruthless nature.
  • Circe for the most part averts this and is a Good Parent but there was one time where she magically controlled her son to get him to stop crying, which she deeply regrets afterwards.
  • Aeetes became one to his daughter Medea.
• Adaptational Badass: Aeetes - a somewhat insignificant king in the Jason myth, is turned into a Benevolent Mage Ruler (later turned Sorcerous Overlord that enslaved sailors he came across) here.
• Adaptational Distillation:
  • In the original myths, the gigantomachy (called the Great War in this story) occurred when Circe was already living on the island and her father slew the giant to protect his daughter. Here the war had already passed by the time Circe is banished to the island.
  • Many parts of the book don’t exactly align with mythology, such as Glaucus’s backstory and how he became a god (Circe wasn’t involved).
  • In the story Oceanos and Helios are called cousins. In mythology Oceanos was one of the first generation titans while Helios was born to the second generation making him Helios’ uncle.
  • The ending is also a big shift. In myth, Circe's son married Penelope (some myths also give him a brother) and Circe made both Penelope and Telelongus immortal. Here her son gets to found his own kingdom, Penelope stays on the island as its new witch and Circe makes herself mortal. The original ending is mentioned in the mocking speech Pasiphae gives to Circe before they part ways.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • One of the most significant changes of the novel is changing a lot of Circe's motivations in the myths surrounding her to paint her in a more heroic light. One major example is the events with Medea and the whole debacle with Odysseus: this version of Circe explicitly states that she spares good men from the fate of being turned into pigs. The first time she did it she had intended on just knocking them out, but she didn't act quickly enough and was raped. The rage she feels after this allows her to discover the pig transformation spell.
  • Because of Aeetes's Adaptational Villainy below, Medea's motive for betraying her family is more reasonable.
• Adaptation Origin Connection: While Circe did have a connection with Glaucus in Greek myth this book makes her responsible for his deification which also introduces her to the herbs that will make her reputation as a witch.
• Adaptational Sexuality: In the Telegony, Telegonus marries Penelope after killing Odysseus. In this version, or at least in Circe's hopes for the future of this version, he forms a deep bond with the captain of his guard and does not care to ever marry or sire heirs.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • While the Greek gods could always be cruel and petty in mythology, and did send monsters to harm mortals who disrespected them, they did not create monsters and actively torment mortals just to milk worship from them.
  • Their motives for punishing Prometheus are also slightly different. In the myths, Prometheus first tricked Zeus into allowing humans to keep the best parts of a sacrifice for themselves for which Zeus took away their ability to use fire as a punishment, then punished Prometheus when he stole it back. Here, it's specifically stated that Prometheus is being punished for giving humans fire in the first place, because it would improve their lives, and the gods simply want humanity as miserable as possible so that they would give them more worship.
  • There wasn't much in the myths about Pasiphae, but she was cursed by Poseidon to fall in love with and copulate with the bull in the myth. In this book she has some semblance of control and does it because she craves infamy, and she's depicted as an Alpha Bitch of godly proportions, only drawing joy from insulting and hurting those without the power to retaliate. She also is the one who keeps Icarus and Daedalus prisoner, whilst in the myths she tried to help them escape Crete. Her story has a fittingly gruesome and ugly ending, going nuts after the Minotaur—her one claim to fame—is killed. She then has to return to gossiping and sniping amongst the gods. Her descendants are deposed from the throne they inherited.
  • Aeetes was pretty much a non-entity in the myths, but here he's later turned Sorcerous Overlord that enslaved sailors he came across by the time Jason comes along.
  • The crew of Odysseus attempted to rape Circe and is the reason for her transformation of them into pigs.
  • Athena is depicted as only favoring Odysseus out of amusement and has no sympathy towards him and his family. Not to mention she tried to kill Telegonus.
  • Helios is made out to be downright abusive and cruel, even though by all accounts, he was one of the nicer gods who doted on his children, especially his daughters. He even killed a giant that tried to harm Circe in the myths while in this story he does nothing when a mortal she took pity on rapes her.
  • There's no mention of Glaucus killing his father after becoming a god in the myths, even if it's revenge for years of beatings. He's also much more ungrateful and arrogant compared to the previous stories. Also in the myths it is said that he helps drowning sailors due to his past struggles, in the story Glaucus prefers to forget his past as a mortal and snidely tells Circe that he will only help his former friends and neighbors if they make good enough offerings to him.
• Adapted Out: Circe's other two possible sons by Odysseus, Ardeas/Agrius and Latinus, do not make an appearance unlike Telegonus.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: There are quite a few things in the story that don't quite line up with actual Greek mythology.
  • Glaucus' story and how he became a god differs greatly from the myths as well as his relationships with Scylla and Circe. In the myths he never met Circe before becoming a god and accidentally became immortal after personally ingesting magical herbs that he found that resurrected dead fish. It made him immortal but also replaced his arms and legs with a fishtail and fins. He was depressed by this but was taken in by Oceanus and Thetis who taught him prophecy and made him a god. When he fell in love with Scylla she rejected him for his fish parts and he went to Circe for help only for her to fall in love with him and curse Scylla instead. Whereas in the novel, Glaucus met and befriended Circe beforehand, Circe made him a god (whose form was just like his old one but blue and with barnacles) by feeding him herbs while he slept. And although Scylla was still repulsed by him she agreed to marry him for the glory it would bring her in which case Circe confronted him.
  • Also, in the myths the minotaur was conceived when Poseidon had Aphrodite curse Pasiphea to fall in love with the bull as revenge when Minos refused to sacrifice it. Here she did so willingly in hopes of gaining fame for birthing a terrifying monster.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Circe is a girl, so she cannot be seen as anything other than "amusement" for the male gods and she isn't as pretty as any of the other nymphs (her having streaks in her hair and a voice like a mortal are considered faults among the vain gods) so they all belittle and mock her when she's in the room. Though Pasiphae admits that they all do that to each other, not just Circe, Circe never had an equal or anyone below her to laugh at (not that she would anyways) so this trope still applies. Though, eventually she becomes feared and hated by them for being a witch, since she can use her powers on them like she did Scylla.
• All Men Are Perverts: Almost all; while Circe is in her phase of transforming sailors into pigs, she always waits for them to attack her or the nymphs first before harming them. She notes that she can count on one hand the number of times she's had shipwrecked sailors who genuinely do just want food and shelter, and she feeds and sends them on their way unharmed.
• Alpha Bitch:
  • Circe's sister, Pasiphae, is a huge one. She never passes up an opportunity to insult her sister. Her mother Perse is one of the Abusive Parent variety, frequently also insulting Circe and laughing at her frequently sending her to her room crying.
  • This really extends to every nymph and minor goddess in the story as it is one of the only small ways they can feel powerful in a world dominated by cruel men who only see them as Baby Factories and Sex Objects.
• Always a Bigger Fish: This book is built on this, given how weak Circe is without her magic, and how powerful gods like Athena and Helios are. But Trygon is the best example. He's vastly older than even the Titans, and his poison is powerful enough to defeat anyone, including Zeus. The only reason he's not a threat is that he just doesn't care about the Greek gods, and spends all his time in the ocean depths.
• Alpha Bitch: There isn't a nymph (besides Circe) in the story that isn't a shallow self-centered narcissistic mean girl. They are constantly gossiping and bullying each other, doing whatever small petty things they can to rub their superiority in each other's faces while breaking down after they lose it. Special mention goes to Circe's mother, who cruelly bullies her for amusement when Circe is otherwise useless and encourages her daughter Pasiphae to do the same.
• Animalistic Abomination: Trygon is The Dreaded, a monster stronger and older than the gods, with a stinger tail that gives instant death to mortals and an eternity of agony to immortals, and lives in the deepest depths of the sea. He is also the only immortal in the story to help Circe purely out of the goodness of his heart and respect for her courage.
• Appearance Is in the Eye of the Beholder: Circe is considered ugly by her vain godly family because she has the voice of a mortal, dull yellow eyes and streaks in her hair. However to mortals and gods like Hermes (who spends a lot of time with mortals) they think she’s beautiful regardless.
• Arc Words: Make a better one.
  • When Circe is born both her parents are immediately disappointed because Helios prophesies she will marry a mortal, which is of no use to them. So her mother carelessly ignores her and immediately suggests they "make a better one" (have another child).
  • When Circe faces Trygon and she breaks down from all the cruelty of the world she says she cannot bare to live in it any longer. So Trygon tells her "Then make a better one." Circe trues to do this at the end when she leaves the world of gods altogether by becoming a mortal, sailing around the world with her new husband to help mortals in whatever ways they can.
• Ascended Extra: Because the book focuses on Circe, a horde of characters that weren't really the focus in their original myths appear more here. Helios, Perse, Aeetes, Pasiphae, Ariadne, Hermes and Scylla are the primary examples.
• Baby Factory: This is how nymphs are treated by the Gods. Per Circe's word, the word "nymph" in the Greek language means not just goddess, but brides. In fact, whether a nymph has any value at all is determined by their looks and willingness to keep giving their husbands heirs. Circe was ignored by the gods and mocked by the nymphs (including her mother, sister and extended family) because of her "plain" appearance. And then as soon as Perse hears she isn't allowed to have any more children she breaks down in tears because now she is considered completely useless.
• Beauty Is Bad: Circe resents the shining beauty of her mother, sister, and fellow nymphs, and associates it with their vapid personalities and cruelty. She also finds the perfect divine beauty of gods like Apollo and Hermes unsettling.
• Bestiality Is Depraved:
  • Pasiphae (willingly in this version) mates with the Cretan bull so she can gain infant for birthing the Minotaur.
  • Earlier in the book Pasiphae and Perses tell Circe that Helios cattle aren’t actually immortal, but that he takes the form of a bull then mates with the heifers himself to keep up the numbers so it looks that way. Which if you think about it means that each generation Helios technically rapes and has calves with his own children.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Circe is a kind woman and one of the best people in the story. But don’t rape her.
• Beware My Stinger Tail: Trygon is an extremely ancient stingray-like being whose tail is lethally poisonous — enough to ward off deities who are much more powerful than Circe. He lends it to Circe when she visits him, as he's impressed with her willpower.
• The Bully: This is essentially what EVERY immortal in the story (bar Circe) boils down too, from the lowest Nymphs to the most powerful gods. Cruel bullies that do whatever they can to make everyone around them miserable (especially the far less powerful mortals) if not to gain more power than to gratify themselves. The only difference is how much damage they are able to inflict based on status and power levels. Nymphs are alpha-bitches that take any opportunity to belittle anyone they can for any reason, those not as powerful as the gods but are given the opportunity to run a kingdom and who have magic subjugate and torture/kill innocent people for pleasure or to show off their power, and the titans and gods actively make sure that the whole world is miserable and reliant on them to milk worship, while still killing innocents on a whim.
• Beyond Redemption: Circe gives up on her brother Aeetes after seeing what kind of monster he's grown up to be, realizing that the sweet little boy she loved and who loved her no longer exists.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: The gods and titans all hate each other and even the "close" ones will turn on each other for power or torment the other for amusement.
  • Pasiphae: There are no friends in those halls. (After Circe asks her why she was always so cruel to her rather than try to be her friend, after she reveals that even though she used to laugh at Circe with the other nymphes they would all laugh at her and she hates them too.)
• Big Brother Bully: Inverted with Pasiphae and Perses; Circe is their older sister, but they insult and belittle her constantly while growing up. Both of whom learned it from their mother who frequently insulted and belittled Circe as well.
• Blessed with Suck: Circe ultimately comes to this conclusion about godhood, sure they live forever, are powerful and dont feel pain unless under special circumstances, but that just results in them becoming egotistical, cruel and drunk with power. The book ends with her making herself mortal.
• Body Horror:
  • There's an entire chapter dedicated to how horrific being turned into a pig is, and Scylla's transformation is also related in quite grisly detail by the witness.
  • The text is also quite detailed about the injuries inflicted on Prometheus and on Circe when Helios scorches her.
  • Circe's narration pulls no punches regarding what it would take to birth a minotaur.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: There is absolutely no love amongst Circe’s family. Everyone is too vain, power-hungry, self-centered and cruel to have any true love or kindness for anyone, be you a parent, child, sibling or so forth. Parents only bat you an eye or show you a shred of kindness if you're useful, siblings are rivals and anyone is willing to betray another for power. Even Pasiphae, who is just as cruel and fits in with everyone else, admits to Circe that she hates their family because she knows that any of their cousins and siblings she used to laugh with would laugh at her, if given the chance, their father cares more about power than anything else, their brothers only see them as amusements and their own mother is nothing but a manipulative shrew.
• Book Ends:
  • Circe's rebellious act in feeding Prometheus in the first chapter comes back in the final chapter, when she uses it to blackmail Helios into freeing her.
  • Near the beginning, Circe raises her mortal lover to godhood to avert Mayfly–December Romance, which backfires when he abandons her. As a result of this, she commits her second great act of witchery: turning Scylla into a raving monster. At the end, Circe again takes a mortal lover, but before doing so she turns Scylla to stone. This time she chooses to try and make herself mortal.
• Brother–Sister Incest: It's heavily implied that Pasiphae had to sleep with her brother Perses to keep him happy.
• Brutal Honesty: Most of Aeetes's interactions with Circe is him delivering to her brutal truths about the scope and ramifications of her actions. This is one of the reasons they got along until he turned into a Sorcerous Overlord.
• Calling the Old Man Out: At the end of the book Circe finally calls out Helios for all his stupidity and cruelty, and blackmails him into persuading Zeus to end her exile.
• Canon Foreigner: Trygon has no basis in Greek mythology, and the closest equivalent to him in the stories is the spear tipped with stingray poison from the Telegony. Justified, since he's vastly older than even the Titans, to the point he dismisses Zeus as "nothing" when Circe brings him up. Trygon is simply beyond the scope of Greek mythology.
• Chickification: In-Universe. Circe is disgruntled to note that this happened to her in retellings of the Odyssey, with the poets talking in detail about how she was humbled by the great Odysseus rather than them reaching an agreement.
• Continuity Nod: While telling Circe about the Trojan war, Odysseus's stories allude to The Song of Achilles, such as noting how he and Patroclus didn't really get on, and how Achilles lost it after Patroclus's death.
  Odysseus: Then the best part of him died...
  Circe: What was his best part?
  Odysseus: His lover Patroclus.
• Cosmic Plaything: The gods make their 'favorites' miserable and repeatedly toy with them for their own amusement. Shortly after Odysseus arrives home, Athena arranges for him to be killed by his own son because his happiness was too boring for her.
• Crapsaccharine World: The godly realms are layered with riches and magic beyond any mortal form....but they're maintained by a tyrannical chain of fear with the gods actively tormenting, backstabbing, and committing all manner of cruelties to each other just for the sake of novelty.
• Cursed with Awesome: This is Aeetes's opinion of Circe's curse on Scylla:
  “Even the most beautiful nymph is largely useless, and an ugly one would be nothing, less than nothing... But a monster,” he said, “she always has a place. She may have all the glory her teeth can snatch. She will not be loved for it, but she will not be constrained either. So whatever foolish sorrow you harbor, forget it. I think it may be said that you improved her.”
• Dangerous 16th Birthday: Downplayed. On his sixteenth birthday, Telegonus tells Circe of his plan to visit his father, Odysseus, and she is suitably aghast. Although he had planned to leave that day, the actual journey does not take place until a few days later.

• Death by Adaptation: Daedalus dies out of grief after Icarus crashed into the ocean instead of surviving like the original myth.
• Desperately Craves Affection: Circe was neglected by her mother at best and bullied mercilessly at worst. As a result she, in her own words “considers the tiniest crumbs (of kindness) a great feast.” This actually serves as one of her flaws as it leads her to think that people who simply weren’t cruel to her at first (Helios, Thetis) and mortals who gave her reverence (Glaucus) actually cared about her. She gets better after centuries of being banished to her island, reflecting on her life and making genuine friends.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?:
  • Given the power difference between them, the Calling the Old Man Out example above qualifies. Circe is a minor goddess who is essentially blackmailing her Titan father and gets away with it.
  • Downplayed when Telemachus rejects Athena's favor and the glorious fate she has planned for him; he is extremely polite about it, but there is no getting around the fact that he is directly defying the will of a particularly fearsome god.
• Did You Just Have Tea With Cthulhu: Trygon is a monster older and stronger than gods and Titans, the father of all oceans, and possibly the most powerful being in the setting....and also probably the nicest immortal in the story, patiently listening to Circe, helping her on the condition that she bring his tail back, and even waiving the more painful parts of the bargain because he admires her bravery.
• The Dog Bites Back: Circe turns the men who try to rape her (after she’s taken pity on them) into pigs.
• Drunk with Power: Glaucus was very humble and respectful to Circe as a lowly fisherman, appreciating her help and even saying at one point she wishes he were a god so he could marry her. Once he does become a god he immediately revels in his newfound power and glory while dismissing any mention of his past life, including trading in Circe for any of the other more-beautiful nymphs. At the end of the book, Circe sadly recounts on how she made Glaucus a monster like she did Scylla in a sense that everything good died in him when she made him a god.
• Driven to Suicide: When some of the pigs from Circe's pen escape (who were once men who tried to rape her) they run for the cliffs. At the end, Circe tells Helios that she would honestly prefer that Zeus destroy her if he won't release her from the island.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Because of all the gods' cruelty and pettiness, minor things that can be overlooked are blown out of proportion.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: The tone and themes are very similar to Song of Achilles, but Circe's story ends much more triumphantly. Circe has a son who becomes a great hero, she forces her father to release her from her exile, and Penelope takes over her role as Witch of Aiaia. Circe even takes Telemachus as a lover and puts Scylla out of her misery in a grand battle at the sea. She becomes mortal and lives into old age with Telemachus.
• Eldritch Ocean Abyss: The bottom of the ocean is home to Trygon, an eldritch being older than the Titans themselves. Circe describes the horrifying aspects of the descent and the abyss itself.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas:
  • Glaucus becomes a total prick after he becomes a god, but he still gives his mother a nice home and a slave to help with her chores after he kills her abusive husband.
  • Averted with some of the other gods whose sexist views extend even to them. Circe was basically a mother figure to her younger brother Aeetes growing up but as he reaches adult hood he cares less and less about her, refusing to take her with him when he gets his own kingdom after she practically begs him to so she can escape the abuse of the rest of their family.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Most of the gods and nymphs bar Circe are this. They are so caught up in the power struggle and their own self-interests they cannot fathom genuine love or kindness. When Circe meets a new nymph on her island said nymph snorts at her notions of kindness and Circe can only get her to do what she says by threatening her, the only language the immortals understand.
  • After his children with Perse are revealed to be witches, and Helios proclaims that out of his alliance to Zeus they will sire no more children together, Perse breaks down in tears as, because of the gender roles, she is now considered completely useless since she can't keep have more children. When Circe walks up to comfort her or apologize Perse thinks she's here to mock her.
    • "Havent you done enough!?"
  • Mixed with Straw Nihilism: Pasiphae thinks that Aeetes and Circe were never close and Aeetes, even from a young age, only saw Circe as a source of entertainment. While Aeetes did become condescending and misogynistic as the other gods later in his life he did love Circe at one point, evidenced by his first words being "Circe" and "Sister".
• Evil Is Petty: The amount of spite, vindictiveness and sheer smallness from beings of enormous power is quite staggering.
• The Exile: Circe was banished to Aiaia for transforming Scylla and Glaucus.
• Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: All the gods are stunningly beautiful but completely monstrous on the inside. Even the lowest Nymphs only need the chance to go from cruel bullies to evil tyrants and sadistic murders.
• Fame Through Infamy: Pasiphae’s whole reason for birthing the Minotaur in the first place. Her husband Minos names it after himself for the same reason.
• Familiar: Circe summons a lioness to be her pet.
• Fertile Blood: Circe mentions her ancestors possessed this trait and she concludes this is the origin of the herbs she finds and uses.
• Foil: Glaucus, Circe's first mortal love interest and Telemachus, her last mortal love-interest who she married. The fact that they were mortals who gained Circe's affection is the only thing they have in common aside from abusive fathers...
  • Glaucus was a lowly fisherman who immediately became drunk with power upon becoming a god. Telemachus was a prince who ended up losing everything but chose to live a peaceful life as opposed to having his own kingdom again.
  • Circe's love for Glaucus was because he was the first person to ever give her gratitude or compliments which left her blind to his faults later on. Circe expects the worst from Telemachus when she first meets him but falls for him when he reveals himself to be a genuinely nice guy.
  • While Glaucus' reverence to Circe was mostly out of the shallow amazement of her being a god (and him freaking out upon her hinting that she's millennium-old forcing her to lie to calm him down), Telemachus genuinely respects her as both a goddess and a woman (and takes things such as her age and past deeds in stride).
• Forced Transformation: Circe's specialty is transforming living things into other living things. These victims are rarely willing, but they also usually deserve it.
• Foreshadowing: When Circe hints at her true age to Glaucus he reacts with horror and revulsion, in which she has to claim it was a joke to calm him down. Which he immediately believes. This hints at Glaucus’ hidden vanity, his simple minded nature and that he doesn’t care for Circe as much as she thinks.
• Friends with Benefits: During the early parts of Circe's exile, Hermes occasionally visits her and she takes him to bed, but she's very aware that there's no real love between them.
• Freudian Excuse: As explained by Pasiphae, the reason for her, their mothers and other nymphs' vanity and cruelty towards Circe is due to living in a world where a woman is nothing unless she is considered beautiful by men. And even then is only objectified and kept for pleasure and heirs and even your own family (fathers and brothers) only see them as bargaining tools or sources of amusement, (sisters) are seen as rivals for their own success who will mock and betray you if given the chance or (mothers) are only seen as a way of proving what they're worth to their husbands.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Circe perceives herself as the Smart one (less attractive, but more down-to-earth) and her sister Pasiphae, with whom she has never got along, as the Pretty one (beautiful, but selfish and cruel).
• Gods Need Prayer Badly: Averted, they dont NEED prayer in a logical sense, but due to their massive ego's they simply crave it so they actively torment humanity and make them miserable so they will receive it. When they arent trying to milk worship and offerings from them, they are actively screwing humanity or otherwise tormenting those beneath them so they can feel powerful.
  Circe: Is that how the Olympians spend their days? Thinking of ways to torment mortals?
  Hermes: There is not cause for righteousness.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Circe gets better over the course of the book, but she repeatedly fails to anticipate just how petty, spiteful and selfish people (god or mortal) can be.
• Guile Hero: Odysseus, as per usual of his portrayal, is manipulative and intelligent but still bold and heroic. Penelope is also as smart and cunning as him.
• Happy Ending Override: The happy ending to The Odyssey is completely negated with Odysseus becoming paranoid and accidentally killed by his son with Circe, Telegonus. This is accurate to the Telegony, another epic in The Trojan Cycle that only survives as a summary.
• Hate Sink: Just about every diety besides Circe, Prometheus and Trigon are completely self-serving, narcissistic, hendonistic, sadistic jackasses who will happily kill you out of petty spite, on a whim, to promote power through fear or just because they felt like it.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Helios is known as one of the most brutal gods and with an "endless wrath." Indeed, when Circe was a child she knew even then that Helios would burn her to a crisp if she threw a tantrum. When he notices a tiny scab on one of his sacred sheep he angrily tells his daughters to fix it with them visibly afraid, and Circe telling him he's wrong about something makes him so angry he sets her on fire.
• He-Man Woman Hater: The number of male characters who aren't this could be counted on one hand. Aeetes eventually becomes the worst example killing his own wife as soon as she gives him a son. Ancient Greece is no place for a lady, whether mortal or immortal: the nymphs exist as playthings, political bargaining tools, and heir-breeders, and no one cares whether they consent or not. And if you're considered ugly in any way (like Circe for her voice) you're are considered less than nothing and a burden on your family who is ignored at best and constantly belittled at worst. Even the other nymphs who become vain equally selfish Alpha Bitches due to this mindset and feel they are nothing unless they can get a powerful husband. The male gods also care little to nothing about their daughters and sisters. Circe's obedience to her father goes unrewarded, her attempts to impress him or stand up for herself are only punished, and even her closest brother becomes very condescending towards her for her gender as they age. Once she's exiled to Aiaia, the fact that she's technically a goddess means nothing to pass sailors with less-than-savory intentions as long as she's got no husband or male relatives around; when an adolescent Telegonus convinces her to take mercy on a passing ship, the crew show incredible deference to him despite the fact that they're all at least twice his age. Odysseus may have been intrigued by Circe's intellect, but upon returning home he's immensely ungrateful to his loyal wife, despite everything she went through while waiting for him. Essentially, the only choices for women in this world are to be meek and virtuous and suffer for it, or be merciless and powerful and reviled for it.
• Heir Club for Men:
  • If you're a boy (and your father thinks you will be successful), you are treated with respect. If you're a girl, the best your parents hope is that you're pretty enough to be married off in an alliance. Otherwise, you are just a burden.
  • When Circe is born both her mother and father are disappointed that she is a girl (in the mother's case because she knows that her husband would have preferred a boy), but hopes she can at least be "traded for something better". When they see how "ugly" she is and Helios foretells she will marry a mortal, they both agree to "make a better one."
• Hidden Depths: Pasiphae, Alpha Bitch extraordinaire, surprises Circe with some very cynical insight into the plight of a nymph. Circe also realizes after their last meeting that, despite how little her sister thinks of her and belittles her, a part of her was hoping they could find kinship was witches and nymphs struggling for power in their lives and be, in their own way, sisters. But Pasiphaes cruelty rubs Circe the wrong way.
• Immortality:
  • All the gods, though it is known that while they live forever and can heal from most wounds (with Circe regrowing her hand in less than a day after the Minotaur bites it off) they can still die if their forms are completely destroyed by a far more powerful entity, as shown by Helios threats to burn Circe to a crisp or his warning that Zeus could destroy her.
  • Trygon's poison can kill any mortal, although it will only cause an immortal endless suffering for the rest of eternity. Although when Scylla becomes a monster, though Circe knows that she is still immortal and thus weapons cant kill her, she is turned to stone when she consumes a mixture of the poison and Circe's herbs.
• Immortal Immaturity: Late in the book, Circe says that while the gods style themselves as parents, they are more accurately described as children clapping their hands and crying "Again! Again!", and the only unfathomably ancient being we see in the book who actually acts like one is Trygon the sea monster. All other gods show no capacity to learn or change, and the book is full of mortals who show greater maturity and self-discipline than the gods.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex:
  • Why are the nymphs so eager to belittle each other if given the opportunity, including Circe's own mother and sister towards her, because they know that at the end of the day they are considered largely useless and not cared for at all by the men in their lives so cruelly taunting or controlling those beneath them makes them feel better.
  • In fact, when Helios states that he is forbidden from having more children with Perse, she breaks down in tears because every time he would give her a new child she would also get beads that she would use to gloat on the other nymphs with, so depriving her of this removes one of the few things that gives her life meaning. Before then, Circe even stated that her mother would have continued having children forever just to get more beads just to flaunt her good fortune over the other nymphs.
  • Circe learns that when the Minotaur, her sister Pasiphae's once claim to fame, has been killed, she completely looses her mind over having lost her source of infamy for the same reason as her mother had.
• Informed Loner: Subverted. While Circe certainly interacts with a lot of people in her exile, many of those interactions are marred with hostility and it's made clear that they are either hostile, indifferent towards Circe or need something from her.
• Intrigued by Humanity: Circe grew up an outcast in a titan household, and is consistently fascinated by mortals and all their quirks and follies. In the end, she voluntarily tries to shed her divinity to become one.
• It Amused Me: When the gods arent tormenting mortals to get more worship from them, they are likely doing it just for this reason.
  • Hermes has no motivation for anything beyond his own amusement.
  • Aeetes enslaves sailors that come to his kingdom, place spells on them that make them his robotic (but still conscious) slaves and often plays a "game" where he forces them to hold their arms out while he lights fire under them until they give him a reaction, simply for entertainment and to show off how powerful he is.
• It's All About Me:
  • In Circe's own words, Helios is not able to conceive of a world without him in it. She later declares him a harp with only one string, that plays for him. While he occasionally treats the children that are useful to him, such as awarding his favorite son a kingdom or granting a favor to temporarily release Circe for Pasiphae, the daughter that cemented his alliance to Zeus via marrying his son, he is ultimately only out for his own self-interest and Pasiphae knows he would tie her to her husbands' bed if it helped him in his alliance. None of the other gods are any better.
  • Hermes only does things to amuse him.
  • Perse, Circe’s mother, only bothers taking care of her kids unless they will be useful and/or pelase her husband for her own benefit. Otherwise she is neglectful at best or bullies them for amusement.
• Jacob and Esau: Subverted. Within her family, Circe initially perceives Perses and Pasiphae as taking after their mother, and herself and later Aeetes as favoring their father. Circe thinks this because Helios doesn’t actively mock her unlike her mother does and doesn’t seem to have a problem with her playing by his feet as a kid. Then he burns her alive, insults her and she realizes her father doesn't think very much of her at all.
• Jerkass Gods: While the gods were often reverently talked about and rarely seen in The Song of Achilles, here they and their vainglory take center stage. Minor deities and nymphs entertain themselves with ceaseless gossip and cruel words and snipes at one another (even their own children are not safe unless they are useful), and the more powerful Titans who sided with Zeus are in a constant power struggle when it comes to avoiding another war with the Olympians and being ready for one. The Olympians constantly jerk humanity around and send them monsters in order to siphon more prayers and sacrifices out of the people of the world, and will kill innocent people for the pettiest of reasons. Circe's ultimate triumph at the end of the book is making herself mortal so that she can age and pass as equals with Telemachus.
• Karma Houdini: At the end of the book every Jerkass God is still making humanity miserable for their petty pleasures and power struggle. The closest any of them comes to receiving comeuppance is...
  • Circe’s father Helios getting his pride wounded when Circe blackmails him into freeing her.
  • Circe’s mother is denied the chance to have more children, which does cause her grief because she can’t rub her success in her siblings faces any more, but she overcame her tears quickly and revels in her new title, “Mother of Witches”.
  • Though Aeetes was devastated upon loosing his son to his daughter Medea he eventually gets over this and welcomes her home impressed by her ruthlessness after she kills her own children to spite Jason.
  • Zig-Zagged with Pasiphae. She looses her kingdom and her claim to fame after the Minotaur is killed and her descendants are dethroned (freeing both Crete and Athens from the monster and her tyranic rule) she ultimately receives no computance beyond going back to where she started: gossiping and belittling others in Oceanus’ halls. Though she did go mad first.
  • However, ultimately at the end Circe decides to spend the remainder of her mortal life helping mortals with her magic which no doubt will infuriate them gods who thrive on mortal suffering and prayers.
• Kick the Dog: Circe’s mother and siblings constantly did this to Circe growing up, belittling and mocking her any chance they got. This is basically the MO of gods in general, to do whatever they can to make those weaker than them (especially mortals) miserable to make themselves feel powerful. High ranking gods like Zeus, Helios and the Olympians do this by tormenting mortals and extorting sacrifices from them while lesser dieties like nymphs do so by bullying each other.
• Lack of Empathy: Universal trait among most of the gods is sadism and need for dominance or power if anything to amuse them or fuel their egos: major gods like Helios sent monsters after humans or otherwise make them suffer to extort as much worship and offerings as possible, nymphs like Perse gossip and mocks anyone less than her and magical rulers like Aeetes and Pasiphae abuse their witchcraft and torture innocent people. All of the gods are extremely self-centered, cruel, spiteful and are honestly incapable of feeling true care for anyone but themselves. Circe's own mother frequently mocks her and sends her crying to her room and her father is happy to take any excuse to disown her despite her loyalty to him since he can’t use her for an arranged marriage, does nothing when she is attacked or raped and even threatens to kill her on their last encounter after initially refusing to arrange for her release. When the gods aren’t doing this they are releasing dangerous monsters on the mortals to milk prayers from them and torture/kill them anyways for amusement.
• Light Is Not Good:
  • Circe’s father is Helios, the Titan-God of the sun, and he’s no less cruel, petty and power hungry than the rest of the gods. It’s actually hinted that out of all the gods he’s actually the worst.
  • According to Hermes, while all the gods make mortals miserable to milk worship from them he says no one is better at it than Helios.
  • Helios in particular is known for having “endless wrath” compared to the other gods.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: Circe talks about how Telemachus is unlike his father Odysseus — while Odysseus was a manipulative and wise trickster, Telemachus is steady, stiff, and straightforward.
• Lovable Rogue: Hermes is very good at giving off this vibe; he is openly and unabashedly a trickster and gadfly, yet retains Circe's interest for a long time because of his intelligence and irreverence. Subverted when he heavily implies that he's raped nymphs in the past, and treats it as no different from the harmless games he plays with other gods. Circe is sickened and infuriated by this, and breaks off their Friends with Benefits relationship on the spot.
• Love Father, Love Son: Odysseus becomes Circe's lover while he's on Aiaia. Later, she falls in love with his son Telemachus.
• Love Makes You Crazy: One of the running themes in the novel is how love makes everyone behave irrationally. Circe, Ariadne and Medea are all victims of this. This is one of the reasons Circe is cynical of love.
• Mama Bear: Circe and Penelope are fiercely protective towards their sons and are willing to stand up to deities much powerful than them to do so.
• Manipulative Bastard: Odysseus and Penelope, easily running circles everyone around them.
• Master Archer: Defied by Odysseus. He's a remarkable bowman and everyone on Ithaca knows it, but he did not bring his archery skills to the table at Troy because the bow was associated by the cowardly Paris, and so it would not have been a good look on Odysseus.
• Maybe Ever After: The novel ends with Circe drinking a magical concoction hoping that it will make her mortal, it succeeds and her life showcases all the adventures and doings she has in the time since. Only to cut back to the point where she's just starting to drink the concoction and these are just her hopes for the future.
• Mayfly–December Romance: Any relationship between a mortal and a god will be this. The quote under the page image gives an idea of this. Circe eventually renounces her divinity in order to have a lifelong relationship with Telemachus.
• Messianic Archetype: Prometheus is gifted with prophecy, so is fully aware that his giving fire to mortals will result in his torture, making him a divine figure who loves humans enough to willingly subject himself to scourging and torment to give them a chance of resisting malevolent powers, while retaining his compassion and dignity throughout. Sound familiar?
• These Hands Have Killed: As Telegonus grows older and begins learning the various heroic ballads of Greek heroes, Circe becomes ashamed over her less-than-noble involvement in several of them. Telemachus is also haunted by killing a dozen of their maids on his father's orders.
• The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Averted; Circe discovers early on that her transformation magic can only affect the body, not the mind. She can turn a bee into a toad or a scorpion into a mouse, but the toad will still try to fly and the mouse will try to sting. As a result, Scylla's monstrous behavior is out of her own desire, not just because Circe transformed her into a monster.
• The Missus and the Ex: Subverted. Circe fully expects Penelope to enact vengeance on her or her son for Odysseus being unfaithful to her, but Penelope doesn't care since they're both victims of the gods and they actually form a strong friendship. Circe even leaves Aiaia to Penelope in the end.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Scylla's creation weighs heavily on Circe once she discovers that the nymph-turned-monster is responsible for the deaths of countless men (in fact, Pasiphae sends Daedalus to fetch her by this route specifically to mess with her more). She also has two smaller examples concerning Telegonus: first, giving him a sleeping potion as an infant, which as much too strong and could have killed him, and later threatening to brainwash him like her brother did to his captured sailors so that he wouldn't leave for Ithaca (both instances horrify him). Daedalus feels the same over his involvement in the conception of the Minotaur, and Telemachus for following his father's orders to kill the maids who had slept with the suitors.
• Our Mages Are Different: Here, magic is feared by the gods. Although Circe and her siblings grow up with an affinity for magic (and her niece Medea becomes a witch as well), she eventually concludes that witchcraft isn't particularly tied to divinity — what makes it is will.
• Narcissist: All the immortals are concerned with themselves, their amusement and power. Everyone else is either a rival, situational ally, tool or play thing.
• Nice Guy:
  • Daedalus and Telemachus are both straight examples of this. Both are good hardworking men who form a genuine friendship with Circe based on respect with Circe coming to love both of them, for the latter romantically.
  • Glaucus is a deconstructed version, he was polite and revered Circe when he was a mortal, thanked her for helping him and even at one point expressed a desire to wish he was a god to marry her. However, it becomes clear later on that this is less out of genuine love or care and more out of him trying to be respectful to Circe for her godly status and making his life easier. Once he does become a god, he becomes just as vain, self-centered, egotistical and arrogant as the rest. He completely tosses Circe aside now that he no longer has to rely on her (or beg for every scrap as he puts it) and chooses any of the much prettier nymphs over her. Circe recounts how Glaucus lost everything good in him and became a metaphorical monster at the end of the story, but another interpretation is that Glaucus was always like that under his weak human demeanor and Circe elevating him to god status and removing his struggles simply gave him permission to release his negative emotions.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Pasiphae tries this on Circe. Despite treating Circe with unrelenting cruelty all their lives, she considers herself and Circe to be witches together, and is genuinely shocked when Circe makes it clear she doesn't consider them to have anything in common. The ultimate difference between them is, that while both hate the cruelness of their family, Circe knows empathy and tries to be better while Pasiphae is just as cruel and selfish as the people she hates and is more interested in trying to benefit herself by playing the game.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Hermes does admit to Circe that, while they enjoy making mortals suffer and do not care at all for them, gods do occasionally have to answer their prayers to keep their devotion. Course, they wait as long as possible then do the bare minimum.
• Top God: Zeus. Just below him is Helios (for being a strong ally during the titanomanchy), then Zeus’s siblings and children, then Helios fellow titans, then the river gods (brine lords), the furies then nymphs and humans.
• The Paranoiac: Odysseus descends into paranoia after returning to Ithaca, convinced that someone is going to try and ruin him or that some greater threat is on the horizon.
• Passing the Torch: Near the end, Circe passes on the position of witch of Aiaia to Penelope.
• Prefers the Illusion: All the gods are petty and cruel constantly diving into Disproportionate Retribution territory over certain things. But no one WANTS another war, so the chain of power is riddled with lies that everyone knows is true that they are willing to choose to believe to keep the peace. For example, Helios knows that Aeetes lied to him about discovering his witchcraft by accident and Aeetes knows that Helios knows he was lying. But Helios, to keep the peace, chooses to believe Aeetes when he tells Zeus and Zeus, in turn, pretends to believe him. It is Circe who gets punished and exiled for being totally honest.
• Privilege Makes You Evil: An explanation for Glaucus personality shift. Where before he was but a humble fisherman who faced the daily grind of work and the indignities of getting older as a God he has community, riches, respect and an immortal life where he will never be parted from his beloved sea. His personality Also takes a dive though and becomes much more arrogant and cruel.
• Prophecy Twist: As in the Telegony, although the exact details are different. Odysseus receives a prophecy that his death will come from the sea, which everyone around him interprets as via shipwreck. He dies from touching the lethally poisonous tail of the deep-sea being Trygon.
• Punished for Sympathy: When Circe was a very small girl she brought the titan Prometheus some water and spoke to him for a bit. An innocent gesture of a child for a person who was in pain, she didn't attempt to help him escape and he was still bound as planned. However, Circe is warned by her brother not to reveal this action to anyone or else Zeus won't just destroy her, but also be angry at Helios for "failing to control his children" and risk his alliance and possibly start another war. Circe later uses this to her advantage in ending her exile by threatening to confess this to Zeus if her father doesn't arrange for an end to her exile.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Circe cuts off all ties with Hermes after he heavily implies that he's committed rape in the past. Circe being raped is what pushes her into discovering the spell that transforms men into pigs, and she immediately casts it upon her attackers and all men who attempt to attack her in the future. She specifically does not do this to kind men who wind up on her doorstep.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After Circe confronts Pasiphae for both asking for her help and insulting her at every turn and also endangering her life by forcing her and the crew of men who picked her up to sail through Scylla's waters, Pasiphae delivers a huge one to Circe for being totally blind to Pasiphaes own struggles and how cruel and apathetic the world of the gods is to everyone, not just her, who shrugs it off and goes back to her island. Circe then gives a silent one about her sister when she finds out about how ugly and pathetic the ending of her time on Earth was.
• Secret Test of Character: When people come for Trygons tail, he tells them that to take it they must first poke themselves with it, which would put them in a state of unending pain. When Circe moves to do so, proving that her claims of only wanting to use to protect her son are true, Trygon pulls his tail away at the last minute saying that the fact that she would have done so is enough.
• Sex Slave: Many of Circe's titan and nymph aunts were taken as these by type triumphant gods.
• Sinister Stingrays: Though Trygon actually turns out to be a nice reasonable creature he fits this trope to a T. Given the description Circe gives in the text and his own exposition of his history the creature is terrifying. Interestingly his very name just means Stingray.
• Stop Worshipping Me: People frequently kneel to Circe, but she either ignores or rejects the worship. Actually weaponised by Penelope, who has deduced that it will shame Circe into helping her.
• Textile Work Is Feminine: Circe is gifted an exquisite loom by Daedalus, which she puts to good use. Penelope is a renowned weaver herself.
• The Sociopath: Excluding Circe all the gods, nymphs and titans qualify as this. They are completely narcissistic, devoid of empathy, sadistic, foul-tempered, enjoy dominating others, crave power and overreact to the smallest things. They kill and torture people or otherwise make lives miserable, if not out of anger or to extort more prayers than just for amusement or to demonstrate their power. They are incapable of having any real attachment or love for anyone around them whether it be lovers or even their own children, who they are perfectly willing to use as pawns for power or discard if un-useful.
• Two Roads Before You: Athena offers a choice to Telemachus, son of her favored Odysseus: lead a glorious life in a rising empire in the West, or become a nobody. When he chooses the latter, she offers the same to his half-brother Telegonus, who chooses the former.
• The Unfavorite: Circe to both her parents. Helios outright says that Circe is the worst of his children.
• Ungrateful Bastard:
  • Circe takes pity on a crew that was lost at sea, feeds them and heals them. But they rape her when they find out she lives alone.
  • Circe took care of Aeetes when he was a baby and was the only person to give him genuine love and kindness, but after their father decided he was worth something and took him in he grew up to be more or less callous, sexist and condescending towards Circe as the other male gods. He ultimately does little to nothing to stop Circe from being banished, only saying it was her own fault for admitting to her mistake and she's lucky to still be alive. Then years later he has the gaul to say that she should have prevented his daughter from leaving her island so he could arrest her because its "(her) duty".
  • Circe befriends Glaucus before he becomes a god, pulling strings with her ocean deity aunt to make his fishing ventures plentiful, and using her power to make him a god. While he's unaware of that last part, (though when he finds out he chooses to hide in his room due to embarrassment rather than thank her or say goodbye before she is banished) he quickly throws her to the wayside and chooses a prettier but much less kind nymph as his wife... only to forget about said prettier nymph too when she is no longer pretty.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Aeetes was a nice boy who loved his sister Circe before Helios decided he was his favorite and took him under his wing, corrupting him and turning him into a condescending jerk. Any kindness or love for his sister all but vanishes after he gets his own kingdom and gets drunk with power due to his magic.
• We Are as Mayflies: Mortals often react with shock when they get reminded of how ancient Circe is; Glaucus in particular (despite knowing she's a goddess) is so disturbed to hear that she knew Prometheus that Circe claims it was a joke.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: Circe and the narrative constantly shows that being a god is a meaningless and empty endeavor. This culminates when Circe gives up her godhood.
  Circe: I thought once that gods are the opposite of death, but I see now they are more dead than anything, for they are unchanging, and can hold nothing in their hands.
• You Are Not My Father: At the end, Circe tells Helios to no longer consider her his child.
• You Killed My Father: Discussed and justified. This is part of the setting's culture; it is expected for sons to rise up and avenge their fallen fathers. This is why Telemachus is exiled from Ithaca after Telegonus accidentally kills their father Odysseus — Telemachus knew it was an accident and did not prosecute him.

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