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Kirke

KEER kee

Κιρκη

Circe

The Dread Goddess

Kirke

Kirke, Daughter of the Sun
Kirke and Odysseus
Kirke and the Golden Fleece
Kirke in The Odyssey (reference)
Other Text References

Kirke, Daughter of the Sun

Kirke (Circe) is the daughter of Helios (the Sun) and the Okeanid, Perseis, which would make her the grand-daughter of Okeanos (Ocean). Kirke was also the sister of king Aietes (Aeetes) of Kolchis (Colchis).

On her island ... in her palace ... Kirke waits for lost sailors to come wandering to her door as supplicants. Normally, a traveler is treated as a special guest but with Kirke, travelers are drugged and turned into animals to serve her as she sees fit.

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Kirke and Odysseus

Odysseus and his desperate crew went ashore on the island of Aiaia (Aeaea) hoping to find food and water. Odysseus sent twenty-three men to explore the island. As the men walked from the beach they could hear sweet singing from Kirke's home in a forest glen. Wild lions and wolves (drugged by Kirke) came, wagging their tails, to greet the strangers. The sailors were charmed by Kirke's beauty and drank the potions she offered as refreshment. As Kirke's vile drugs took effect, the once valiant men began to change shape and were soon fully transformed into swine. Kirke herded them into pens and pig food was tossed on the ground before them.

The only survivor of the twenty-three men, Eurylochos (Eurylochus), ran back to Odysseus and urged that they set sail immediately. He told the story of the evil goddess and how they would all be turned into swine if they dared to stay on that dangerous island ... his warnings unfortunately took on an air of cowardice ... Odysseus almost killed him for it. Odysseus was not afraid and he was determined not to leave his men as swine but he would not risk any of the other men in a fight with Kirke ... Odysseus went to Kirke's palace alone.

Along the trail, Odysseus met the god, Hermes, in the guise of a young man. Hermes told Odysseus that he could entrap Kirke and free his companions if he obeyed the gods orders. Hermes reached down and pulled a plant called 'moly' from the ground and explained that mere mortals found it difficult to dig-up but he, as a god, could do all things. Odysseus took the plant that Hermes gave him and went boldly into Kirke's house. She welcomed him as another victim and gave him her vile potions but the 'moly' gave Odysseus protection against her poisons. When Kirke thought the drugs had taken effect, she tried to strike Odysseus with her wand. The touch of the wand was supposed to complete the animal transformation process but Odysseus drew his sword and sprang upon her. The astonished Kirke surrendered instantly. She released the twenty-two pig-men and ceremoniously anointed them with another one of her potions. The men were restored to their original forms but they were taller and more handsome than before they had been enswined.

To show her good faith, Kirke opened her doors to the dispirited sailors and gave them every comfort she could offer. After the entire crew had been rested and nourished, Kirke told Odysseus that his journey would now take him to the house of Hades (lord of the Underworld). She said that Odysseus must consult with the soul of the seer, Teiresias the Theban, to find out how he may finally appease Poseidon (lord of the Sea) and return to his home.

According to Kirke's instructions, in order to reach the entrance to the Underworld, Odysseus and his crew were required to sail the treacherous waters between the precincts of the man-eating, six headed Skylla (Scylla) and the ship-devouring whirlpool Charybdis. She warned Odysseus that he could survive the passage but she also warned him not to be too bold and accept whatever fatalities the two supernatural creatures inflicted on his crew.

Before leaving the island of Aiaia, one of Odysseus's men, Elpenor, was capering on the roof of Kirke's palace and fell to his death. In his haste to leave the island, Odysseus failed to give Elpenor his proper funeral rites. While at the entrance to the Underworld, Odysseus encountered the 'shade' of Elpenor and the dead man's image begged Odysseus to return to Aiaia and give his body a suitable funeral so that his soul might pass on to the house of Hades in peace.

Upon returning to Kirke's island, Odysseus retrieved the body of Elpenor and prepared to resume his homeward journey. After her handmaidens, the Naiads, had given food and comfort to Odysseus's crew, she warned him that he would face a new danger when he left her island. Kirke told Odysseus that he must avoid the island of Thrinakia (Thrinacia), which is sacred to Helios (the Sun), or his homecoming would be sadder than he could imagine. Kirke knew that Odysseus's voyage would be one of hardship and sorrow but she had given him all the comfort and advice her divine prescience could offer. She gave Odysseus a favorable wind and sent him on his way.

Kirke and Odysseus had three children: Agrios (Agrius), Latinos and Telegonos (Telegonus).

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Kirke and Odysseus

Kirke and Odysseus

Kirke and the Golden Fleece

A generation before the arrival of Odysseus on her island, Kirke received two other desperate travelers. Jason and Medeia (Medea) arrived on Aiaia in search of absolution for the murder of Medeia's half-brother, Apsyrtos. After Jason and Medeia had stolen the Golden Fleece from Kolchis (Colchis), they were pursued by a fleet of ships led by Apsyrtos. Realizing that they could not avoid a confrontation with Apsyrtos, Medeia pretended to surrender and lured her half-brother into a trap where he was cold-bloodedly murdered by Jason. Medeia was Kirke 's niece and hoped that her sorceress aunt could absolve this terrible crime.

Before the arrival of Jason and Medeia, Kirke had been troubled by nightmares where the walls of her palace were dripping with blood and flames consumed the drugs she used to bewitch strangers who happened to land on her island. As she was recovering from this nightmare, Jason, Medeia and the Argonauts arrived. They could see the dread look on the face of the goddess and knelt before her in a manner befitting supplicants.

Kirke saw that a curse was upon them and performed rites of purification. She held a sow above them, cut it's throat and made Jason and Medeia wash their hands in the blood. With the assistance of the Naiads, Kirke placed atonement cakes without wine, flour, oil and honey in the hearth. After praying to Zeus and the Eumenides (Furies), Kirke asked Medeia to tell the story of her plight and asked questions to clarify Medeia's explanations. Medeia carefully did not tell her aunt about the murder of Apsyrtos but the divine Kirke was not fooled by the deception. Kirke told Medeia that the wrath of Aietes would soon overtake them and that she would not inflict any more suffering upon them but she was adamant that Medeia and Jason leave her island at once and endure whatever fate Zeus and the other Immortals were sure to mete out.

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Kirke and Odysseus

Kirke in The Odyssey

(listed by book and line)

The line numbers listed here correspond fairly well with the Lattimore and Murray/Dimock translations of The Odyssey. Other translations (Fitzgerald, Fagles et al) do not correspond as well but, with a small amount of effort, you should be able to find the reference you need regardless of the translation you use.

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Other Text References

Theogony

Catalogues of Women and Eoiae

Epigrams of Homer XIV

The Telegony

The Argonautika

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