“Circe”, Madeline Miller
Published April 10, 2018
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child--neither powerful like her father nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power: the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.
“But in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me.”
Madeline Miller has a gift of retelling Greek mythology into beautifully tragic stories that cover the complexities and magic of both human and divine beings. I am almost ashamed to admit that I stopped and restarted Circe so many times over two years, until I finally sat down and focused on my paperback copy. And oh man, what a spellbinding experience.
This book is told entirely from Circe’s POV, tracing her journey from overlooked daughter of Helios to exiled witch of Aiaia. Her tale sweeps through centuries in an epic and intimate way. We see cameos of well-known myth personalities such as Hermes, Daedalus, Icarus, and Odysseus, as well as lesser known characters whose backstories and arcs lead into popular Greek tropes (the Minotaur, anyone?) We get to join Circe through her heartbreaks, rage, tenderness, and hunger for agency in a world keeps trying to define her.
After covering Achilles and Patroclus in The Song of Achilles, I am glad that the author gave voice to a historically sidelined character. I see this growing trend in mythological retellings, and I’m actually very excited to read the rest of Madeline Miller’s catalog.
Content Warnings
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of content and trigger warnings.
sexual assault • infidelity • confinement
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Owned: Audible • Barnes & Noble paperback