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Chapter 12
Themes
and Colors
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
In spring, Circe is surprised to see another ship visit her shores. She walks to the beach and notes the fine clothes and weapons of the men on board. From the future, Circe considers the countless people who later claimed ancestry from the men on the ship. As Circe looks into the men’s silent, anxious faces, she notices that the air around the ship smells foul.
In the future, people will probably say that they are related to the men on the ship because they want a share in their glory. Although Circe hasn't yet revealed who the men are, it is likely that they become famous, given that so many people want to share in their fame.
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Two people disembark from the ship: a young man and, to Circe’s astonishment, a woman. The woman speaks first, asking Circe for help and saying that they have committed foul sins in their flight from “great evil.” Circe understand that they are asking for the rite of katharsis, the cleansing of evil. Tradition forbids her to ask why, so she welcomes them without question.
Circe is astonished to see a woman on the ship because ancient Greek society didn’t often permit women to take part in heroic quests or daring adventures. Additionally, the woman isn't just a passenger on the ship; she is important enough to speak to Circe on behalf of the crew. Circe's shock at seeing a woman in a position of power is a testament to ancient Greece's misogyny, which often prevented women from controlling their own lives, let alone having authority over other people.
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Literary Devices
Circe leads the couple to her house, noticing that the woman, who keeps her face hidden, walks more steadily than the young man, even as he holds her as if to balance her. When they arrive in Circe’s house, Circe performs the rite and feels the air clear.
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At last, the woman looks up and Circe realizes from her “golden look” that she must be a descendant of Helios. Circe is captivated by the woman who, although not classically beautiful, has “a fervency” that grabs one’s attention. Circe learns that she is Medea, Aeëtes’s daughter. Medea explains that she couldn’t risk Circe’s recognizing her, in case Aeëtes had told Circe ugly stories about her.
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Circe invites them to eat, and she watches Medea lovingly serve the young man before she serves herself. The man introduces himself as Jason, a prince of Iolcos, and launches into his tale of how he went to Aeëtes to win the sorcerer’s golden fleece. Medea, her hand on Jason’s, interrupts his story to emphasize how “No mortal, however valiant and brave” could pass the test crafted by Aeëtes, as it was a trick to kill challengers.
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When Circe assumes that they somehow cheated, Jason looks irritated, and Medea quickly assures Circe that Jason hadn’t wanted help, but that she, frightened for him, begged Jason to let her assist him. Jason’s indignance fades at this explanation. Medea then dismissively mentions that she possesses “some small [magic] skill[s]” and made “a simple draught” to protect Jason from harm. Circe is astounded that Medea, a mortal, has the powers and talent to make such a complex spell. Medea’s timidity seems ridiculously inappropriate in light of her power.
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Jason leaps back into his story, which culminates in him escaping with the fleece and Medea, whom he suggests he rescued from her father. Circe can see that Jason already imagines himself telling the tale before a captivated audience; she also coolly notes that he never thanks Medea, “as if a demigoddess saving him at every turn was only his due.” Medea adds that she and Jason married on the ship, so she will rule Iolcos with him. Jason is silent, his enthusiasm diminishing.
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Circe then asks them to explain their request for katharsis. Medea cautiously tells her of their attempt to outsail Aeëtes, who used his superior powers to catch up. When Aeëtes neared them, Medea saw his fury and knew that he would kill them. She then says that “A madness came over [her],” prompting her to dismember her little brother, whom she had brought on board as a potential bargaining piece. The boy was Aeëtes’s favored son, so, as she threw his pieces into the sea, she knew that Aeëtes would collect the body parts to bury them properly. With Aeëtes thus slowed, Medea, Jason, and the crew escaped.
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Jason looks sickened as Medea finishes the tale. She then fills his goblet of wine, and Circe sees her slip in a powder. Jason drinks it and promptly nods off. Medea justifies the drugging, saying that “It is too difficult for him.” When Circe accuses Medea of lying about the madness, she confesses that she did indeed know what she was doing, although she adds that “some call lovers mad.”
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When Circe asks Medea whether she regrets her actions, she shrugs off the question, saying that her brother, as a soldier, “sacrificed himself.” But Circe contradicts her: he didn’t offer himself up—she murdered him. Medea tells Circe that the alternative would be to watch Aeëtes torture Jason and his crew to death, after which it would be her turn. Seeing Circe’s disbelief, Medea goes on to describe how her father enslaved and tortured men, even siphoning away their minds so that they were “empty shell[s].”
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Aeëtes’s one hope for Medea was to trade her for poisons from another sorcerer. But the only other is Perses, who already has a wife “in chains.” Remembering how her brothers hated each other growing up, Circe is shocked to learn that they are now friends, plotting war against the Olympians. When Circe asks whether Jason knows, Medea is emphatic that he cannot know, for “A man wants a wife like new grass, fresh and green.” Circe inwardly thinks of how Jason is already pulling away from her.
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Medea stands up and tells Circe that she and Jason must leave for Iolcos, where she anticipates being his queen. Circe senses Medea’s desperation and asks whether Jason, to whom her past and powers will always be incomprehensible, truly loves her. Medea is certain that he does. After all, she says, they are married, and she will bear him heirs. But Circe warns her that she is blinded by her love, and that the people of Iolcos—each wanting the chance to marry a daughter to the hero—will unite in pressuring Jason to reject her.
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Circe offers Medea an alternative: a life on Aiaia, where Circe will teach her. Medea is quiet for a moment, then asks about Jason. Circe urges her to leave him and embrace her identity as “A witch […] Who need answer to none but herself.” Medea sneers, asking if that’s how Circe sees herself. She mocks Circe further, calling her wretched, alone, and desperate for someone to brighten up her “childless days.” No, Medea tells her, she will not stay in Aiaia.
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Wounded, Circe retaliates, telling Medea that Jason already despises and fears her. To Jason, Medea is only the means to an end. As soon as he has reached Iolcos, where the people will pressure him to expel “that foreign witch,” he will abandon her. Medea is enraged but does not change her mind. As soon as Jason begins to wake, the two of them leave Aiaia.
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Several hours later, Aeëtes’s ship arrives. He calls out to Circe, who is thinking of how sweet he was a child. He orders her to hand over Medea, whom he knows stopped by. When Circe informs him that Medea has already left, he is furious. For a moment, Circe considers lying to Aeëtes and imagines that, if he thought that Medea had tricked Circe into letting her go, then she and Aeëtes could spend time together. But then Circe catches sight of Aeëtes’s blank-faced boat crew, whose bodies show signs of torture. Realizing how far-gone Aeëtes is, she lets her dream of a reunion go. He threatens her, but she responds that he cannot harm her on her island. He is momentarily surprised, but then he sneers at her and sails away.
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