Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Circe, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power, Fear, and Self-Preservation
Women, Power, and Misogyny
Change, Initiative, and the Self
Mortality, Fragility, and Fulfillment
Family and Individuality
Summary
Analysis
At the time of Circe’s birth, there is no name for what she is. Others initially assume that, like her mother Perse, Circe is a nymph. Nymphs are the least powerful of all goddesses, and the word nymph means “bride.”
The novel’s beginning establishes the sexism of ancient Greece. Nymphs have no (or very limited) supernatural powers and are therefore are at the bottom of the hierarchy of the gods. While there are some powerful female gods, the people on the lowest rung of the ladder are female, which suggests women’s inferior position to men in ancient Greece. Additionally, the fact that the term nymph means “bride” shows that powerless women are seen as sexual objects for men. Because of their gender, women’s societal value and future are limited to marriage.
Themes
Circe’s father, Helios, is a Titan. Perse met him through her own father, Oceanos. As Oceanos’s cousin, Helios frequently visited his palace, which is where he first saw Perse. Circe pictures her mother arranging her dress seductively to catch Helios’s eye. When Helios asked about Perse, Oceanos told him that he could have her if he wanted her.
Perse’s calculated posing demonstrates the idea that women must objectify themselves in order to get some power in ancient Greece’s sexist society. Perse is a nymph, so as a woman without significant supernatural capabilities, she is effectively powerless. Aware that the only way she can get power is through a man, she shows herself off to catch the attention of Helios, one of the most powerful Titans. Meanwhile, Oceanos sees his daughter as merely an object to give away. Women have no say in their futures, as is demonstrated when Oceanos never asks Perse for her opinion on marrying Helios.
Themes
When Helios first approached Perse, she refused to have sex with him until he married her. Helios had been with many women, but he’d never been given an ultimatum before—it thrilled him. He, like all the other gods, was intrigued by novelty. Helios sealed the engagement by giving her a necklace that he made himself with rare amber beads.
Perse knows that simply having sex with Helios will not get her what she wants, which is power. In ancient Greece, marriage is the primary way that a woman can gain any influence—it permanently attaches them to a man’s protection and power—so Perse demands that Helios marry her. Helios is like other gods in that his immortality has made him jaded. Having seen just about everything, he is moved not by genuine love for or connection with Perse, but by novelty. The necklaces that Helios gives Perse are signs of the limited power that she gets from their marriage. Amber is a color that is close to gold, which is associated with power throughout the story. As a woman, her only power is what she has through her husband, which is represented in the beads he gives her.
Themes
Helios would go on to give Perse a similar necklace after the birth of each of her four children, and she treasured both the necklaces and the envy they inspired among her sisters. Circe speculates that her mother would have continued having children forever, just to get more necklaces, if the more powerful gods hadn’t found out what her children were and forbidden her from having more children with Helios.
In describing Perse’s love of the beads, Circe implies that Perse has little to no love for her children. She cares only about the power that she gains by having them—they’re a mark of her high social status as a Titan’s wife, and they make others envious. Power is so important in this society that a person’s eagerness to have it supersedes the love that one is expected to have for their child. Circe hints to the limited nature of Perse’s power by foreshadowing that the other gods are able to take it away.
Themes
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When Circe is born, Perse is disappointed to have a girl. But Helios is pleased—as with all his other daughters from different women, he knows that men and gods alike will pay him a fortune to marry Circe. Momentarily consoled that Circe “could be traded for something better,” Perse asks Helios what kind of match Circe will make. He replies that she will likely marry a mortal prince, as she is not pretty enough to attract a god. Disgusted by mortals, Perse is revolted at the thought of her daughter marrying one. Already healed from giving birth, Perse tells Helios that they will create a “better” child.
Perse’s disappointment over having a daughter speaks to the prevalence of misogyny in ancient Greece. Women aren’t expected to have any power, so Perse, whose hopes for power rest on the men she is associated with, sees daughters as useless. Helios, however, doesn’t mind having daughters, as he can sell them for high prices to men who wish to marry them. Because men and other gods are eager to associate themselves with the powerful Helios—and hope to pass some of Helios’s power to their children by mating with Helios’s daughters—the girls are considered valuable. Of course, they are not valued for their character, but only for their sexuality, which again reveals ancient Greece’s misogyny. So, when Perse hears that Circe is unlikely to marry a powerful god, but to a mortal, she is upset—association with a lowly mortal will not bring Perse and status or influence. So, she rejects Circe, demonstrating how power takes precedence over any paternal feelings of love.
Themes
Perse takes no interest in raising Circe, and with Helios gone each day to ride his chariot across the sky, Circe spends much of her young childhood on her own in her father palace, where she wanders the obsidian halls. Without Helios there to give off light, the palace is quite dark; in designing the palace, he picked obsidian so that it would reflect his light, and he never considered what it might be like there without him. Whenever Helios returns for the night, Perse tries to entice him to their bedroom. He usually agrees, but Circe likes it when he doesn’t, since it makes Perse storm off.
Helios’s design of his palace reveals his egotism. He is obsessed with his own magnificence, and he doesn’t bother considering how his decisions—even small ones like the design of his palace—affect others. Helios’s egotism is representative of the gods’ general disinterest in anyone beyond themselves, which is also seen in how Perse, upset that Circe brings her no power, completely dismisses her own child. In the meantime, Perse continues exercising the power that she possesses through her sexuality by trying to seduce Helios.
Themes
Sitting at her father’s feet, Circe sees the world as “made of gold” because of the light he gives off. While Circe can stare into his face, looking at Helios would turn a mortal to ash. Circe asks what would happen if a mortal saw her, and Helios replies that the mortal would consider himself fortunate but would not be burned. Burning a log in the fireplace with his eyes, Helios explains that Circe doesn’t even have the “least of [his] powers.”
The gold that Helios gives off is representative of his power, which Circe, though young, already appreciates. By describing how Helios’s power changes the appearance of the world—it appears glittering and golden—Circe is suggesting that having power can change one’s perspective. Indeed, because gold is associated with wealth, it may even be that, with power, the world appears to be full of riches awaiting to be exploited for one’s own gain. Circe wants to know whether she has any of Helios’s powers, starting with whether her mere appearance can turn mortals to ash. This suggests both her detachment toward mortals—not understanding death, she sees the ability to kill others as desirable—and her interest in having power of her own. But Helios tells her that she doesn’t have any, which speaks to the fact that women in this society aren’t expected to have any special abilities or influence.
Themes
Perse gives birth to two more children: one girl and one boy. The daughter, whom she names Pasiphaë, earns a prophecy from Helios, who declares that she will marry “an eternal son of Zeus.” Perse is thrilled about Pasiphaë’s promising prophecy, and Circe is sure that she is already planning which dress she will wear on the day of the wedding. For his newborn son, Helios has no prophecy but states that he “reflects upon his mother.” Glowing with pride, Perse names him Perses, after herself.
Perse’s reaction to the births of Pasiphaë and Perses again emphasize her obsession with gaining influence—and the fact that she can only gain it through other people. Because Pasiphaë will marry a (presumably immortal) son of Zeus, Perse knows that she will have some amount of influence and status through her daughter’s marriage. The fact that Perse values Pasiphaë because of her future marriage illustrates how women only gain value through men. Meanwhile, Perse is thrilled to claim Perses as her own and names him after herself. In this way, his deeds will reflect on her. Although she does not know what his path in life will be, as a male, he’ll have far more opportunities to make the world know his name. Naming Perses after herself to ensure that he “reflects upon his mother” is Perse’s only way to have glory.
Themes
Perses and Pasiphaë quickly notice that Perse loathes Circe, and they begin to incessantly mock her, calling her ugly and shrill. Soon Circe isn’t the only one they torment—they start terrorizing all the other nymphs and river-lords in Oceanos’s palace. Circe does her best to escape her siblings, choosing instead to sit at Helios’s feet in his halls.
Perses and Pasiphaë quickly assimilate to their family by joining their mother in being cruel to Circe. It is possible that they begin taunting Circe simply to align themselves with Perse and thus avoid her malice, which is indicative of the dog-eat-dog mentality that exists in a society obsessed with power. Their behavior also demonstrates how a person picks up the faults of their family; having seen their mother’s cruelty toward Circe, Perses and Pasiphaë join in.
Themes
One day, Helios invites Circe to join him in visiting his sacred cows—which are envied by the other gods—so they ride in his chariot across the sky. When they arrive at the pasture, Circe’s half-sisters, Lampetia and Phaethousa, are there. Two of Helios’s most beautiful daughters, they are caretakers of the cows. With a kind tone, they insult Circe’s eyes and advise her to keep her hair braided to disguise its streakiness and to hide her ugly voice by not speaking.
Circe’s trip to the pasture of sacred cows reveals the gods’ obsession with superficial perfection. Helios’s cows are perfectly beautiful, just as their caretakers are perfectly beautiful. This perfection is a way of gaining status among the gods, who are always looking for ways to gain dominance over each other. Lampetia and Phaethousa are quick to point out Circe’s physical faults and suggest ways for her to hide her “ugliness.” Their recommendations, such as Circe no longer speaking so as to hide her ugly voice, take away Circe’s individuality and make her look and sound more like them. Lampetia and Phaethousa’s physical similarities suggest that perfection translates to a sameness. This uniformity is reflected in the cows, which Lampetia and Phaethousa struggle to tell apart. The encounter demonstrates one way in which the gods resist change. With their strict and superficial definitions of beauty, they pressure each other to behave and appear in certain ways, all for the sake of a “beauty” that has nothing to do with a person’s character. When someone doesn’t adhere to their expectations—like Circe and her “ugly” voice—the gods seek ways to remove that person’s differences, which they see as flaws.
Themes
The cows are pure white and perfect, with gilded horns and gleaming coats. Lampetia and Phaethousa (whom Circe struggles to tell apart) try to teach Circe the names of the cows but get them mixed up. Abruptly, Helios spots a scab on one of the cows. He becomes suddenly cold and demands that Lampetia and Phaethousa fix it by tomorrow. The two women become frenzied: they bow, apologize, and promise to fix the scab. Circe observes that the scab is no bigger than her fingernail.
Phaethousa and Lampetia’s attempts to silence Circe for the sake of making her similar to them is a lot like Helios’s furious demand that Phaethousa and Lampetia remove his cow’s scab. In both cases, the gods do not tolerate difference.
Themes
As Helios and Circe fly home in the chariot, Circe remembers something Helios once told her: that there are mortals called astronomers whose job it is to track Helios’s path, predicting when the sun rises and sets. When the astronomers are wrong, the kings whom they serve kill them. Helios believes that these deaths are deserved, as he’s offended by the notion that anyone could predict his behavior.
Helios’s total lack of empathy toward the astronomers reflects two aspects of his character. On one hand, he is cold and unfeeling toward mortals and their deaths. To him, they live to die, so if they die in a manner that reflects his power, he is pleased. Similarly, his offense at the astronomers’ predictions indicates his obsession with his own power—he resents that anyone would try to restrict his behavior. The astronomers’ deaths are only more proof of his power, as their failure suggests that no one else can control him. The kings in the anecdote also play into the chain of power by killing the astronomers.
Themes
Circe asks Helios whether tonight they are late enough to get the astronomers killed. When Helios says yes, Circe feels sick to her stomach, imagining astronomers begging for their lives and explaining that it’s not their fault that the sun is late. Helios dismisses her discomfort as hunger.
In contrast to Helios’s cool dismissal of the mortals’ deaths, Circe pities them, although she does not know the name for her feeling. The fact that Helios misidentifies her discomfort as hunger shows that pity is not an emotion that the gods often feel. With a family and an environment in which this emotion is not felt (or, at least, not discussed), Circe is ignorant of it.
Themes
Back at the palace, Perses and Pasiphaë ask Circe about the cows and mock her for not knowing something about them. When Circe asks what that something is, her sister explains that Helios sometimes turns into a bull and has sex with the cows, fathering their calves. Perse joins in their laughter and calls Circe stupid. In moments like these, Circe believes that her life will be miserable forever.
Perses’s and Pasiphaë’s mocking of Circe for her ignorance is a way for them to exert their dominance over her; they know more than she does and will make her suffer because of it. Circe, meanwhile, feels trapped in her unhappy childhood but does nothing to change it. Her inaction only perpetuates her misery, but at this point in her development, she does not understand that she must take action if she wishes a situation would change.
Themes
