Circe by Madeline Miller

This post contains spoilers. 

Circe by Madeline Miller was first published in 2018. This is an account of the Greek Goddess’s life from her own point of view. I found this book to be extraordinary. Though I have not read a lot of Twenty – First Century fiction, this was probably my favorite fictional work  that I have read that has been published this century. It is a book that works on many levels.

Though much of the story is drawn from Homer’s Odyssey, many other Greek and Roman mythological sources are drawn into the story including Ovid’s Metamorphosis as well as what is known about the lost Ancient Greek epic poem The Telegony. One of many strengths to this work  is the way that Miller has managed to weave these sources together seamlessly.

Circe’s story is told in the first person. The book picks up in her youngest days. She is the daughter of Helios the Sun God. The young Goddess is not very powerful and is surrounded by Gods and Goddesses who show little humanity or ethics and who often bully or take advantage of her.  Early on she encounters and aids Prometheus who is being persecuted and tortured by the other deities for aiding humanity.  Unlike most of the other gods, Prometheus possesses principles. His aid to humanity  seems to be symbolic of humanism which is a theme throughout the book.  This encounter has an impression upon her that resounds throughout her life. 

As time passes Circe and her siblings discover a new power that has been previously unavailable to the Gods. This is the power of witchcraft and involves the use of herbs and the casting of spells as a way to exert power. Circe is a mostly sympathetic character but she shows serious imperfections. At her worst moment she uses her newfound power to turn her romantic rival Scylla into a monster. Most of her fellow deities have no conscious, but Circe does. Thus, this act haunts her for the remainder of her life.  Though her immoral fellow gods are not much bothered by Scylla’s fate, the discovery of witchcraft causes a rift in the balance of power between the gods. When Helios and Zeus strike a deal to keep the peace, Circe is sent into exile to the island of Aiaia. 

Over the years Circe encounters many famous Gods, mythological creatures and mortals including Hermes, Athena, Medea, Daedalus, Jason, the Minotaur and others. Her infamous habit of turning ship’s crews into pigs is shown to be a defensive strategy to protect herself against gang rape. Eventually Odysseus shows up. He appears to be sensitive and thoughtful person who is also very imperfect and has also committed many wrongs. He and Circe begin an affair. After a year he departs. A pregnant Circe eventually gives birth to Telegonus. The book covers Telegonus’s youth and adolescence. Circe struggles to use her powers to protect him against a murderous Athena. Eventually he sets off for Ithaca to find his father Odysseus. 

At Ithaca Telegonus finds an Odysseus who is cruel and is growing paranoid. Odysseus is killed when he attacks Telegonus. Odysseus’s wife Paleopole and his son Telemachus are more or less relived by the hero’s death and flee with Telegonus back to Circe on Aiaia. There, the four grow close as they encounter further challenges. 

There is so much going on in this book. First, it is a great character study. The portrait of Circe is so well drawn. She begins the story as an unassertive and vulnerable person. Her parents, siblings and early romantic interests often belittle and take advantage of her. She slowly learns to assert herself. The entire book, from the first pages to the last is a kind of an arc where Circe develops her self - worth in the face of narcissists who seek to diminish her. The story has a lot of feminist themes as it presents a girl and later a woman who slowly finds liberation as she faces people and society who try to disregard and exploit her. I found this aspect of the book realistic and I thought that Circe’s experience and personality evolution applicable to both  women and men of a certain personality type.  As noted above, along the way Circe does not always behave with perfect morality. Despite this, she does develop something of her own ethical code as the story goes on and mostly behaves sympathetically. Miller pits a lot of nuance into her. There are other great characters including Telegonus. 

The story is also filled with keen observations about life and the human condition. Like all deities, Circe is immortal. The narrative frequently contrasts this with the mortality of humans.

At one point Circe is thinking about her mortal son,

Even if Telegonus survived Athena, even if he made it all the way to Ithaca and back, still I would lose him. To shipwreck or to sickness, to raids or wars. The best that I could hope for would be to watch his body fail, limb by limb. To see his shoulders droop, his legs tremble, his belly sink into itself. And at the last, I would have to stand over his white-haired corpse and watch it fed to the flames. The hills and trees before me, the worms and lions, stones and tender buds, Daedalus’ loom, all wavered as if they were a fraying dream. Beneath them was the place I truly dwelt, a cold eternity of endless grief.

At another stage she observes, 

It was their fate… the story that they all shared . No matter how vivid they were in life, no matter how brilliant , no matter the wonders they made , they came to dust and smoke . Meanwhile every petty and useless god would go on sucking down the bright air until the stars went dark.

In the above quotations death is portrayed as  dark event and a tragedy. This theme is developed throughout the book. It is ultimately worked out as it becomes apparent that it is death that gives people humanity and that ironically, mortality is a strength. Death is interwoven with the humanistic themes very elegantly.  

Like an epic poem, there are also observations upon parents and children, love of various kinds, courage and more.

The book is written in prose full of metaphors in the style of epic poetry. In this way and in others Miller’s writing is poetic. The words also flow very well. This all adds up to writing that is artistic and excellent.

I would throw one yellow flag out to readers. Though I think this book can work on some levels as a standalone story, I would recommend that one be familiar with the Odyssey and maybe a little bit of mythology surrounding Circe from other sources before reading this. This is less of a retelling of these stories as  it is more like Miller has filled in a lot of blanks from other stories. The author has combined ancient themes with modern ones. The effect is very impressive. 

I loved this book. It contains outstanding story, characters, themes and prose. It weaves together timeless elements with Miller’s interpretation. It is a marvelous edition to established mythology. I highly recommend this book.