Circe

I was recently overcome with a strong urge to read about Greek mythology. I assume it arose since I was reading Through The Looking Glass, which starts the argument that language is dependent on culture with the absence of mentions of color in Greek epic poems like the Odyssey. If colors are mentioned, it is often what we would consider wrong, like violet sheep. (But that is a story for another time).

Either way, I went through my shelves and landed on Circe. And what a great choice it turned out to be, such a shame I didn’t read it earlier. As the name suggests, this is the story of Circe, daughter of the sun god Helios. Never one to stand out among the other gods she is banished to the island of Aiaia where she meets multiple important characters from Greek mythology, before Odysseus sets foot on the island and his men are turned to pigs.

It was more of an engaging read than I initially imagined, considering that rather a large part of the story was already familiar to me. Still, Circe was given a very interesting voice and she definitely took the reins of her own story. The descriptions were also particularly livid. I would like to read more by Madeline Miller.