Books

The ending of Circe and her marriage to Telemachus is based on The Telegony. This is a lost epic poem that outlines the life of Telegonus, the son of Odysseus & Circe — who kills his father on a visit to Ithaca and returns to Circe’s Aeaea with Telemachus, who marries his father’s lover (Telegonus weds Odysseus’ widow, Penelope).

Miller makes Circe live with her mistakes and presses her to bear the consequences of them. Circe is able to grow because of her many blunders and, throughout all her actions, she never fails to feel distinctly human.

Throughout the story, almost every single character tries to scramble up the ladder of power. Minor gods try to win the favor of greater gods, mortal men try to become heroes, but Circe rejects fame that stems from ego, fear, and violence.

Feared for her gift, she is banished to the island Aeaea; but rather than being a punishment, the independence and freedom Aeaea affords her allows Circe to grow into her own.

The novel’s protagonist is a nymph named Circe, who experiences ancient Greece’s misogyny firsthand. Nymphs are at the bottom of the gods’ ladder of power and, as women, they are susceptible to violence and abuse from mortal men and immortal gods alike