Review "Circe" - Madeline Miller

Description

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe has neither the look nor the voice of divinity, and is scorned and rejected by her kin. Increasingly isolated, she turns to mortals for companionship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft.

When love drives Circe to cast a dark spell, wrathful Zeus banishes her to the remote island of Aiaia. There she learns to harness her occult craft, drawing strength from nature. But she will not always be alone; many are destined to pass through Circe's place of exile, entwining their fates with hers. The messenger god, Hermes. The craftsman, Daedalus. A ship bearing a golden fleece. And wily Odysseus, on his epic voyage home.

There is danger for a solitary woman in this world, and Circe's independence draws the wrath of men and gods alike. To protect what she holds dear, Circe must decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

(Goodreads) 

 

Circe by Madeline Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am fascinated by mythology – may it be Greek or Egyptian. With each author that I’ve read, I fell more and more in love with this genre. Each story, each vision, made my imagination run wild and enriched my knowledge. It’s all fantasy of course, but "what if" shines in my mind and how these authors are capable of contriving such plots; history is such a scary and fantastical place.
“Circe” was a great read, I loved it. It’s a book that amasses many iconic stories, Gods and monsters, adventure and magic, love stories and humanity. The plot is centered on Circe and over her longevity we can be witnesses of wars and myths that made the books and through her experiences to a fulfilling story. Mythology reports that Circe was a witch or sorceress, a nymph and daughter of Titan Helios, God of Sun, and Perse. Madeline Miller’s story blends these myths in fantasy, resulting a beautifully-written book with lots of intriguing passages made sweeter by the well-chosen writing style.
Circe the character in a naïve woman, striving for acceptance and love in her father’s home and forced to mature when she is exiled on the island Aeaea. Unknowing of her power she makes some childish mistakes and her punishment sends her to a life of solitude, accompanied only by docile animals. In time she becomes powerful, a renowned witch, made known in the Gods’ world, being visited by the messenger God, Hermes, which will be for a time her only other companion. She will assist her sister, Pasiphae, in mothering the Minotaur, befriending Daedalus and meeting Ariadne, coming in contact and learning of the lives of many other symbolic characters. When her island is discovered and assaulted by strangers she refuses to be their victim, using her magic and turning them into pigs, but Odysseus is resisting her magic. They spend a season together, their idyll short-lived but intense, Odysseus sharing stories of the Trojan War and its heroes, Achilles, Diomedes. When Odysseus and his crew are set to depart to their homes, Circe keeps one secret, a secret that will bring Odysseus’s end. Circe made her transformation from nymph to sorceress to a woman who’s eternal life becomes foreign to her and wishes to feel humanity, to love and experience life with mortals dear to her.
Apart from the lesson in Greek mythology - the book is a pleasure to read, it has all it takes to make it intriguing and enjoyable, with a main character that symbolizes strength, endurance, love, motherhood – we witness a woman’s life story, with ups and downs, with many humane feelings. The action is quite graphic in some scenes, but all it does is adding to the charm of the book, making it complex and godlike, because Gods are such jerks sometimes.


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