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Circe (novel)

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Circe
US 1st ed.
AuthorMadeline Miller
Audio read byPerdita Weeks
Cover artistWill Staehle
LanguageEnglish
SubjectCirce
GenreFantasy
Set inGreek Heroic Age
PublisherLittle, Brown (US)
Bloomsbury (Int'l)
Publication date
April 10, 2018 (US)
April 19, 2018 (Int'l)
Publication placeUnited States
International
Media typePrint, ebook, kindle, audiobook
Pages393 pp
AwardsAthenaeum Award (2018)
Goodread—Fantasy (2018)
Kitschies—Novel (2018)
Alex Awards (2019)
ISBN9780316556347
(hardcover 1st ed.)
OCLC1029608347
813.6
LC ClassPS3613.I5445 C57 2018b
WebsiteOfficial website

Circe is a 2018 mythic fantasy novel by American writer Madeline Miller. Set during the Greek Heroic Age, it is an adaptation of various Greek myths, most notably the Odyssey, as told from the perspective of the witch Circe. The novel explores Circe's origin story and narrates Circe's encounters with mythological figures such as Hermes, the Minotaur, Jason, and Medea and ultimately, her romance with Odysseus and his son Telemachus.

Plot

Circe is the divine daughter of the titan Helios and naiad Perse. Deemed unattractive and powerless from birth, she is neglected by her father and bullied by the rest of her vain family. When she is still young, she witnesses the Titan Prometheus being punished for giving fire to humanity and gives him water when no one is looking. She bonds with her younger brother Aeëtes, but he leaves her to rule his own kingdom.

Circe meets Glaucos, a mortal fisherman. She falls in love with him and becomes devastated by the idea that since he is a mortal and she is immortal, he will eventually die and she will have to live without him. In an effort to prevent her fear from actualizing, Circe feeds Glaucos the sap of magical flowers grown in soil that was once soaked with the blood of the titan Kronos; the sap transforms him into a god. However, Glaucos's newfound godhood causes him to become arrogant, and he begins giving gifts to the nymph Scylla, ignoring Circe in the process. Circe becomes jealous and uses the flowers' magic again, intending to reveal Scylla's true ugliness. Scylla is transformed into a six-headed sea monster.

Guilt-ridden, Circe confesses her deeds to Helios, who initially does not believe she has magical powers. Aeëtes reveals that he and his siblings are witches who have the ability to draw out magic from such herbs. To keep the peace between the Titans and the Olympians, led by Zeus, Helios and Perse are forbidden from having more children. Aeëtes and his other children are to be monitored, but Circe is punished for purposely seeking out the magic and using it on another god. Circe is permanently exiled to the island of Aiaia.

Circe uses her exile to study and hone her witchcraft. Over the centuries she spends on Aiaia, Circe interacts with many mythic figures. She receives visits from the Olympian god Hermes, whom she takes as a lover. She is escorted off the island by the mortal Daedalus, at the request of Circe's sister and the Queen of Crete, Pasiphaë. During her brief visit to Crete, Circe helps her sister birth the Minotaur and uses her witchcraft to help tame the monster. Many years later, the hero Jason and his wife the witch Medea (Circe's niece) arrive on Aiaia after having stolen the Golden Fleece from Circe's brother Aeëtes, murdering Medea's brother, Absyrtus, in the process. Circe cleanses them of the crime and warns Medea of Jason's waning interest in her but is rebuffed.

Circe enters a period of loneliness and is excited to host a group of forlorn sailors who arrive on Aiaia in search of food and rest. After Circe informs the sailors that she lives alone on the island, the ship captain rapes her, and the other sailors express interest in doing the same. To prevent them from doing so, Circe transforms all of the sailors into pigs. When subsequent ships arrive at her island, she continues to turn those ships' sailors into pigs; eventually, this action becomes habitual, as Circe transforms men who visit her island into pigs before she definitively knows whether they will attempt to sexually harass her or not.

One ship arrives led by the hero Odysseus, who persuades Circe to spare the lives of his crew and hosting them on her island. Ultimately, Odysseus and his crew stay on Aiaia for one year. Though Odysseus and Circe have an affair, Odysseus leaves to continue his journey back to Ithaca, where his wife and son are waiting for him. Circe gives birth to a son and names him Telegonus.

Circe realizes that the goddess Athena threatens her son. Circe casts a spell to protect the island while Telegonus grows. When the teenage Telegonus begs to leave the island to meet his father, Circe acquires the poison tail of the marine god Trygon as a weapon for his protection. When Telegonus meets his father, however, Odysseus attacks him and is accidentally killed by the poisoned spear. Guilty, Telegonus returns home with Odysseus's wife, Penelope, and son Telemachus.

Having lost her hero Odysseus, Athena visits Aiaia to offer her patronage to Telemachus, who refuses her. Telegonus accepts in his stead and embarks on his own heroic journey. Forlorn by the loss of her son, Circe summons her father and asks him to negotiate with Zeus to end her exile. Helios initially refuses, but Circe blackmails him by threatening to inform Zeus of how she spoke with Prometheus, which could potentially start a war between the Olympians and Titans. With Telemachus's help, Circe uses the poison spear to turn Scylla to stone and collects more of the flowers she once used on Glaucos. Finding love with Telemachus, Circe uses the flowers' magic on herself with the intention of becoming mortal and living out her days traveling with him.

Critical reception

According to Book Marks, the book received "rave" reviews based on eighteen critic reviews, with twelve being "rave" and five being "positive" and one being "mixed".[1] The critic aggregates Books in the Media and Bookmarks gave the book ratings of 4.14 and 4 out of 5, respectively.[2][3]

In a review for The New York Times, Claire Messud describes Miller's Circe as "pleasurable," approving of its feminist themes and its "highly psychologized, redemptive and ultimately exculpatory account" of Circe's familiar tale.[4] A review published via The Washington Post by Ron Charles contextualizes Miller's novel within the MeToo movement and praises her reimagining of Circe's story as "harrowing and unexpected", casting a "feminist light" on timeless tales that "illuminates details we hadn't noticed before."[5] The Guardian's Aida Edemariam also praises Miller for finding novelty and "narrative propulsion" by anchoring her retelling around the "emotional life of a woman."[6]

Awards

Year Award Category Result Ref
2018 Athenaeum Literary Award — Won [7]
Goodreads Choice Awards Fantasy Won [8]
Kitschies Red Tentacle (Novel) Won [9]
Waterstones Book of the Year — Shortlisted [10][11][12]
2019 Alex Awards — Won
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence Fiction Longlisted [13]
Australian Book Industry Awards International Book Shortlisted [14]
Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards Fiction Won [15]
Beautiful Book Shortlisted
Indies Choice Book Awards Adult Fiction Won [16][17]
Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize — Longlisted [18]
Mythopoeic Awards — Shortlisted [19]
RUSA CODES Reading List Historical Fiction Shortlisted [20]
Women's Prize for Fiction — Shortlisted [21]
2020 International Dublin Literary Award — Longlisted [22][23]

Adaptations

In 2019, HBO Max announced an eight-episode adaptation of the novel to be written and produced by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Circe". Book Marks. Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  2. ^ "Circe Reviews". Books in the Media. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  3. ^ "Circe". Bookmarks. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  4. ^ Messud, Claire (May 28, 2018). "December's Book Club Pick: Turning Circe Into a Good Witch". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 6, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  5. ^ "Review | The original nasty woman is a goddess for our times". Washington Post. April 9, 2018. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  6. ^ Edemariam, Aida (April 21, 2018). "Circe by Madeline Miller review – myth, magic and single motherhood". the Guardian. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  7. ^ "Literary Award". The Athenaeum of Philadelphia. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  8. ^ Jarema, Kerri (December 4, 2018). "The 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards Winners Are Here & 'The Hate U Give' Won In A BIG Way". Bustle. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  9. ^ Chandler, Mark (April 16, 2019). "Miller's Circe picks up Red Tentacle at Kitschies | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  10. ^ Cain, Sian (November 29, 2018). "Sally Rooney's Normal People named Waterstones book of the year". the Guardian. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  11. ^ "Awards: Waterstones, Blackwell's Books of the Year Finalists". Shelf Awareness. November 8, 2018. Archived from the original on July 23, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  12. ^ "Love story Normal People is Waterstones' book of the year". BBC News. November 29, 2018. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  13. ^ "2019 Winners | Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence". www.ala.org. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  14. ^ Haines, Gillian (April 10, 2019). "2019 ABIA Shortlist Announce". ABIA. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  15. ^ "Obama, Porter and Thunberg shortlisted for BAMB reader awards". The Bookseller. October 3, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  16. ^ "2019 Indies Choice Book Award Winners Announced!". Authors Unbound. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  17. ^ "Buzzy Books Like Circe and Educated Just Received This Award". Oprah Daily. May 1, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  18. ^ "2019 Simpson Longlist Released". New Literary Project. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  19. ^ Emerson, David (June 5, 2019). "The Mythopoeic Society: 2019 Mythopoeic Awards finalists announced". www.mythsoc.org. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  20. ^ "The Reading List". RUSA Update. March 19, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  21. ^ Jean-Philippe, McKenzie (April 29, 2019). "An Oprah's Book Club Pick Just Made the Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist". Oprah Daily. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  22. ^ "2020 – International DUBLIN Literary Award". web.archive.org. May 11, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  23. ^ locusmag (January 15, 2020). "2020 Dublin Literary Award Longlist". Locus Online. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  24. ^ Otterson, Joe (July 30, 2019). "HBO Max Orders Greek Mythology Drama 'Circe' From Amanda Silver, Rick Jaffa". Variety. Archived from the original on July 30, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
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