Backlist Review: Circe
Image from author’s website
Circe by Madeline Miller
Release: April 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
A couple years (or four years, at least) back I read this beautiful book called The Song of Achilles (2011) by Madeline Miller. It was a beautiful expansion upon the birth, life, and legacy that was Achilles. I was so excited when Miller announced her newest book Circe, where we travel back to ancient times to learn more about the goddess’ life.
Now, most people recognize Circe from Homer’s The Odyssey when she turns Odysseus’ crew into pigs or they might also recognize her as the sister to Pasiphae, the mother of the Minotaur. However, Miller doesn’t just focus on these events as she structures a narrative around Circe’s life; she overlays piece after piece, so that we understand this goddess to her core: her dreams, desires, motives, intent, and fears.
We also learn of her upbringing as the daughter of Helios and Perse, with neither the power of the titan nor the beauty of the nymph. We learn of her banishment to an island where she discovers she is a powerful witch. We watch her grow from a naive goddess to a hardened, powerful woman who loves just as much as she loses but is always pushing forward and changing to become her true self.
Miller has a beautiful writing style that lends to master storytelling as she weaves together myth, modern language, and the intricacies of personal relationships and self development. We watch Circe as she transforms others using magic, but the true power in Miller’s storytelling is the transformation within Circe’s self-image and confidence. We see Circe as she struggles with her place in the world of the gods and then in the world of mortals, we watch her struggle as she toils away at learning to become a witch, and we watch her fall in love, lose love, become a mother, and so much more. And the whole time, Miller is elegantly superimposing the strength and vitality of women in an age when women were seen as less powerful. It’s glorious.
I’m giving Circe 4 out of 5 Awesome Austin Points. It’s beautifully written and provides such depth of character for a goddess we tend to overlook when studying mythology. The writing is gorgeous and Circe was just such an interesting character to delve into as a reader. I would give it a go if you’re into mythology or, if Circe doesn’t intrigue you, I would highly suggest looking into The Song of Achilles - both are fabulous takes on such strong characters.
