Circe Book Club Week 3 Wrap Up

  • Posted on: 24 August 2020
  • By: Michelle Brightwell

In this section of Circe we encountered quite a few figures from mythology who may or may not have been portrayed differently.

 

For starters, we meet Jason and Medea

Jason, who you might recognize from the old movie Jason and the Argonauts,

Greek warrior battling stop motion skeleton soldiers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and Medea, who you might know as the witch in the play by Euripedes,

Painting of Greek Warrior and Greek woman

arrive on Circe’s island asking for katharsis, a cleansing. Circe and Medea engage in a heated conversation, and Jason and Medea leave her island for their new home.

You can read more about Jason here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason

And more about Medea here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medea

 

We also meet Odysseus, the main character of Homer’s Odyssey. He arrives on Circe’s island with his ship’s crew. They’ve been on their way home from the Trojan war for 2 years, seemingly lost at sea (for reasons that have everything to do with spiteful gods). His sailors wear out their welcome, but Odysseus and Circe have a more amicable relationship.

Paiting of Circe offering cup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In The Odyssey, told from the perspective of Odysseus, Circe and Odysseus have a very different start to their relationship. The newest English translation of the Odyssey, by Emily Wilson, is written in modern language, easy to understand, and even though Wilson chose to keep the format similar to the original in verse, it is extremely readable. I recommend checking out a copy if you’re interested in Greek mythology, or to just look at the differences between the way Circe is portrayed in Miller’s retelling and in the original Greek myth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can find Circe discussion questions each week on Goodreads, and you can join us on Zoom this Wednesday, August 26 at 6:30 pm to discuss chapters 16-21.

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