CIRCE
the allure of the sorceress
Daughter of Helios, granddaughter of Okeanos, indissolubly linked with
the primeval elements of creation, fire and water, light and darkness,
Circe is a fearful goddess (deine theos), who can speak the languages of
mortals and seems to belong to a divine hierarchy earlier than the
Olympian pantheon.
Living far from civilisation in the thick forest, surrounded by wolves
and lions, goddess of wild nature and mistress of the wild beasts,
potnia theron, Circe was originally another manifestation of the Great
Goddess of the Mediterranean worid, who was a personification of the
primitive natural impuise, the beginning of Life and Death.
One of her characteristic features was Wisdom (Gnosis). Circe knew how
to cross the sea, and the traps that lay in wait, the roads that lead to
the land of the dead and the cities of the living; she knew the
creatures of the Other Worid and their secrets, all the healing
medicines and poisons of the world; and she was possessed of fear- some
magic powers that could overturn the order of things.
The seafarers of Homer encountered her on her enchanted island near the
gates of Hades. The goddess's cup made Odysseus' companions forget the
worid of men, and the touch of her magic wand turned men into pigs,
hunters into prey. Odysseus alone, to whom Hermes had revealed Circe's
secret, was able to resist her spells, protected by the antidote. In a
display of his male virtue, the hero unsheathed his sword and attacked
the sorceress, who riposted by inviting him to make love. Even in her
embrace, however, danger lurked for males, and she was only disarmed by
the oath that she had given of her own free will.
Odysseus forgot his home for an entire year in Circe's paradise and,
when the time came for him to leave, it was Circe who showed him the way
back and taught him how to avoid the dangers. Her kindness was soon
forgotten, however, and only the memory of her deceit remained alive.
The art of the poet achieved a transformation of Circe. After Homer, she
gradually lost her divine nature and became a negative heroine, the
archetypal evil witch, the cunning woman-snare, waiting for the
opportunity to entrap the unsuspecting male with her charms and lead him
to destruction.
'To my mind, Circe is not a goddess, not even a sorceress. She is just a
symbol of sensuous pleasure, instinct and the ornament of sensuality'.
G. Seferis, Essays II, 1974, p. 36.
