Circe has been known throughout time as the most iconic and striking enchantress in Greek
mythology, one whose distinction between mortal and immortality is blurry.
Some say she was a mortal witch, and others a goddess.
Today, Circe is associated with one popular and famous role in mythology, as a host of
Odysseus and his crew as they fought to return home to Ithaca after fighting in the Trojan
War.
She was born to the sun-god Helios and the Oceanid Perseis, his wife, with her siblings
also persons of notable interest throughout Greek mythology.
Circe was the sister of Pasiphae who became the wife to Midas and her brothers were Perses
and Aeetes, famous kings in Greek history.
In addition, even though her brothers had no magical abilities or renown, one of her
nieces, Medea, was known to have magical powers.
Circe was regarded throughout time as the most powerful of the three sorceresses in
her line, her power to supposedly hide the sun and the moon whenever she wanted, eclipsing
the powers of Pasiphae and Medea.
However, how much of the power she wielded naturally and which she got from calling upon
the assistance of dark deities like Nyx, Hecate and Chaos is not known.
The sorceress lived on the island of Aeaea, brought there to stay on his golden chariot
by her father Helios, the sun god.
The island happens to be one of the places from Greek mythology that does not appear
on any modern map, with a lot of speculation and debate on where it is to be found.
Apollonius of Rhodes claimed it was located south of Elba, and the island is Pianosa.
She lived in a stone mansion in Aeaea, which was supposedly located in a stone clearing.
She had her own throne from which she ruled over the island, and had her needs done by
nymphs who worshipped her and tended her gardens, ultimately providing the herbs and flowers
the sorceress used in her potions.
Her domain was not just populated by the nature spirits, as she had a host and collection
of wild animals; lions and bears and wolves who all behaved like domestic and tamed animals.
While some claim that Circe tamed these animals, others insist that they were as a result of
all the men she had transformed into beasts.
This does bear some substance to it, as most tales surrounding the sorceress always seemed
to have the element of human transformation to an animal in them.
Circe was rumored to have been in love with a sea deity by the name of Glaucous to find
that it was unrequited because he had another in his heart, Scylla, a beautiful maiden.
Known for her treachery, Circe is said to have poisoned the water Scylla bathed in,
but most agree that she gave Glaucous a love potion which was supposed to make the maiden
fall in love with him.
What all accounts agree to have in common, is that the potion was what transformed Scylla
into a hideous and famous monster, that would be known for wrecking ships alongside another
monster from Greek mythology, Charybdis.
It seems like Circe was just unlucky in love, because this time she fell for Picus, the
son of Cronus, and the same thing happened; he was in love with another woman; one of
Janus' daughters.
In the end, unable to take further rejection, she cast a spell to turn him into a woodpecker.
His friends came looking for him when he didn't turn up after a while, being unaware of his
transformation, she cast the same spell which turned them also into various animals.
​Circe is most famous for her encounter with Odysseus and his crew, a tale told famously
by Homer and other writers.
The men had landed upon Aeaea, without a clue where they were, and they were just looking
for some peace after their narrow escape and troubles with Polyphemus and the Laestrygonians.
Luckily, after the failure of one group of his men to return from searching the island,
Odysseus had realized that they were in a dangerous place as well.
These men came across Circe’s mansion, and she gave them food that turned them into swine.
Circe would have used her magic upon Odysseus as well, but the king of Ithaca was aided
by Hermes, the messenger god himself, who gave him advice and a potion to reverse the
effects of Circe's.
It is well accepted that Circe and Odysseus became lovers and that she transformed him
and his men back into humans, and for a year Odysseus and his crew lived in a relative
paradise, before she finally gave her help in returning to their home.
She gave him valuable advice on how to reach the underworld and taught him the way with
which he could navigate between the sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis.
Odysseus needed to reach the underworld to find Tiresias who could tell him things he
needed to know.
It is said that she bore him three sons: Agrius, Latinus, and Telegonus.
Of all three sons, the most famous was Telegonus, who became king of the Etruscans.
This was the story of Circe, the most famous Sorceress in Greek Mythology.
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