Circe and Odysseus: the dangerous attraction of sorceress and hero

Circe is the first witch in Greek mythology. She turned men into pigsfell in love with Odyssey and possessed magic that could stop even heroes.

Circe – the first witch of Greece

The history of witches goes back centuries, and it begins in Hellas. Thanks to Homer and him “Odyssey” The world learned about Circe, a woman who can be considered the first witch in Greek myths. She was beautiful, smart and deadly.

Circe knew how to captivate men, luring them to her island Eeeyawhere she turned into animals. Intoxicated by her charms, the guests did not notice how they were deprived of their human appearance, remaining forever prisoners in the bodies of pigs.

Odysseus and Circe’s spell

IN “Odyssey” tells how Odysseus and his companions, having escaped from the cannibal Laestrygonians, landed on the island of Circe. Half of the crew went on reconnaissance, but found themselves in a trap: the witch invited them to a feast, slipped a potion into their food and, waving her magic wand, turned everyone into pigs. Only Eurylochus suspected a trick and managed to escape to warn Odysseus.

He decided to go to the sorceress alone. On the way he appeared Hermeswho gave advice: add a magical plant to Circe’s wine moths – it will protect from her spell. When Circe tried to bewitch the hero, Odysseus remained unharmed. He forced her to return her companions to human form. As a result, the witch fell in love with him and sheltered the wanderers on her island for a year, helping them on their further journey home.

Love, children and prophecies

By HesiodCirce and Odysseus had three sons – Agrios, Latin And Telegonoswho, according to myth, ruled the Etruscans. In a Roman poem “Aeneid” Virgil calls Latinus the king of the Latins, the ancestor of the Romans.

Later authors preserved the tragic version: when Telegonos grew up, he, not knowing who his father was, accidentally killed Odysseus with a poisoned spear. Having learned the truth, he and Penelope moved his father’s body to Circe’s island. After this, according to legend, they went to Islands of the Blessed.

There was another version where Odysseus, having heard a prophecy that he would die at the hands of his son, expelled Telemachus, not knowing that he had another son, Telegonos. Fate, as usual, had the last laugh.

Circe in other myths

In the poem “Argonautica” (3rd century BC) Apollonius of Rhodes describes how Circe cleansed the Argonauts of their sin for killing Apsyrtus. There, her animals are no longer former lovers, but symbols of ancient magic. Later she fell in love with an Italian soothsayer Pikebut, having learned that he preferred the goddess of gardens Pomonaturned him into a woodpecker, leaving him with the ability of foresight.

So Circe remained the embodiment of the power of magic and passion, a woman who knew how to captivate gods and people, but could not free herself from her own spell.

Source link