Circe Themes

Epic Hero

In Circe, Madeline Miller turns epic fiction on its head by making a woman the epic hero rather than the more typical servant, child-bearer, villain, enchantress, much like the character of Circe is traditionally portrayed in Greek mythology. In the standard portrayal of an epic hero, the hero comes from ruling or noble stock, is a noted warrior, demonstrates great courage and strength, travels a great distance, has great confidence, and seeks glory. Throughout an epic hero’s journey there are numerous challenges, often fighting supernatural beings.

Odysseus is among the best-known epic heroes, and he represents each of these defining characteristics. Circe does as well, although the distance she travels is not measured only in miles; rather than seeking glory, she seeks truth. Circe can be viewed as heroic in her intelligence, courage, determination, and decency. She also has character flaws, some of which she is aware of and contemplates in her role as narrator. Circe reveals her thoughts and feelings, what motivates her actions, and her physical and emotional struggles. This honesty gives her heroism on a more human level.

Transformation

Circe’s power to transform is central to the story. She turns Glaucos into a god, Scylla into a monster, sailors into pigs when they brutalize her, lions and wolves from fearsome to tame, flowers and herbs into medicine and poison, and ultimately herself from a goddess to a mortal. Transformation is also linked to becoming or revealing what is true. Scylla’s cruelty is monstrous. The men who Circe transforms behave swinishly. Early on clues about Circe’s voice, which her immortal fellows criticize as reedy and weak, and her sense of being an outsider in the divine world, foreshadow her decision to become mortal, to achieve her true self.

Mortality versus Immortality

Circe’s tale is true to the many tales of Greek mythology in which mortal men and women are at the mercy of the gods. Inspired by Prometheus and his sacrifice for mortals, Circe questions the divine view that gods are greater and mortals are less. She is also ambivalent about the benefits of immortality and comes to see it as a sacrifice, to be condemned to a forever life without those she has loved. This tension between mortality and immortality pervades the story and motivates Circe’s ultimate decision to become mortal.