Circe – Mythopedia Circe also featured in other myths, including the tale of the Argonauts, in which she was the one who purified Jason and Medea for their murder of the Colchian prince Apsyrtus In another tradition, Circe’s son by Odysseus, Telegonus , wound up killing his father by accident, after which he married Odysseus’ widow Penelope while Odysseus
Odysseus – Mythopedia The god Hermes aided in this quest by gifting Odysseus a plant that made him immune to Circe’s magic When he came to the witch’s palace, he demanded that she restore his men to their true form Circe, realizing that she had no power over Odysseus, did as he asked Circe by Wright Barker (1889) Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford Public
Scylla - Mythopedia Circe also gave Odysseus two further pieces of advice: first, not to arm himself or try to fight Scylla, as doing so would only give the monster a chance to pounce a second time and kill another six men; and second, to pray to Scylla’s mother, Crataeis, to hold off her daughter from pouncing more than once
Medea – Mythopedia Medea was also a descendant of the gods Her grandfather was Helios, the Titan who personified the sun, and she was the niece of Circe, a minor goddess who was also a powerful magician Given her pedigree, it is unsurprising that ancient sources were divided on whether Medea was an ordinary mortal or a divine being
Odyssey: Book 10 (Full Text) - Mythopedia Circe in vain invites the feast to share; Absent I ponder, and absorb’d in care; While scenes of woe rose anxious in my breast, The queen beheld me, and these words address’d: “‘Why sits Ulysses silent and apart, Some hoard of grief close harbour’d at his heart Untouch’d before thee stand the cates divine, And unregarded laughs the
Metamorphoses: Book 14 (Full Text) - Mythopedia Strait Circe reddens with a guilty shame, And vows revenge for her rejected flame Fierce liking oft a spight as fierce creates; For love refus’d, without aversion, hates To hurt her hapless rival she proceeds; And, by the fall of Scylla, Glaucus bleeds Some fascinating bev’rage now she brews; Compos’d of deadly drugs, and baneful juice
Charybdis - Mythopedia The sorceress Circe had warned him that he was better off sailing close to Scylla and losing a handful of his men, rather than sailing too close to Charybdis and losing his whole ship and crew Odysseus followed Circe’s instructions: as he sailed by Scylla, six of his men were snatched up and eaten (one for each of Scylla’s heads)
Odyssey - Mythopedia Circe initially transforms several of Odysseus’ men into swine, but she eventually restores them to their original form and even grants hospitality to Odysseus and his companions (Book 10) Attic red-figure lekythos (oil jar) showing Odysseus threatening Circe by the Nikon Painter (ca 480–470 BCE)
Aeetes - Mythopedia Aeetes belongs to a very early stratum of Greek mythology The earliest literary reference to him can be found in Homer (eighth century BCE), where he is mentioned as the wicked brother of Circe in Book 10 of the Odyssey (135ff) Aeetes’ genealogy was also outlined by Hesiod (eighth seventh century BCE) in his Theogony (956ff)
Odyssey: Book 12 (Full Text) - Mythopedia Argument The Sirene, Scylla, and Charybdis He relates how, after his return from the shades, he was sent by Circe on his voyage, by the coast of the Sirens, and by the strait of Scylla and Charybdis: the manner in which he escaped those dangers: how, being cast on the island Trinacria, his companions destroyed the oxen of the Sun: the vengeance that followed; how all perished by shipwreck