Circe Book Review
By ARIANNA EDWARDS
The novel Circe by Madeline Miller opens with the line “When I was born, the name for what I was did not exist.”
In the story of Circe, daughter of Helios, and a well-known character from Homer’s Odyssey, the idea of Circe’s identity becomes central to the entire story, as she too tries to discover and harness her true nature.
Despite being half titan, half nymph, the beginning of her life is filled with misfortune and constant ridicule, the most prominent by her own family. This constant torment by her family and other divines creates a fascination with mortals, one that ultimately causes her punishment from Zeus.
Despite Circe’s divinity, her story is remarkably human. Her struggles are both internal and external, as she fights against herself, as well as those she loves and those she hates. These conflicts are rooted deeply within the human experience, so much so that any reader could find themselves relating to her tale.
Many other well-known characters and stories from Greek mythology are featured throughout Circe’s life, such as: Daedalus and Icarus; Ariadne and the Minotaur; and Odysseus and Penelope.
Miller manages to give a well-known character a fresh start in the eyes of readers, making her someone more than the witch who turned Odysseus’ men into pigs. The Circe that readers are presented with is one who is compassionate and driven, who has faced many challenges in her thousands of years of life, but has grown stronger and more sure of herself through those trials.
She is a fierce woman, whose power is the culmination of her own determination and resilience.
In the midst of all her perils, Circe questions, “What could make a god afraid?” Ultimately, she discovers that someone like herself, with so much power and emotion, who dares to challenge the gods, were what they truly feared the most.