Irlandos at 15:56, January 5, 2006

2006-01-05T15:56:52Z

Irlandos at 15:56, January 5, 2006

2006-01-05T15:56:29Z

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In [[Greek mythology]], '''Circe''' or '''Kirkê''' (Greek '''Κίρκη''') was a [[goddess]] living on the [[island]] of [[Aeaea]].

Circe's father was [[Helios]], the pre-Olympic [[Titan (mythology)|titan]] of the Sun, and her mother was [[Perse]], an [[Oceanid]]; she was sister of [[Aeetes]], the king of [[Colchis]] and of [[Pasiphae]] and [[Aegea|Aga]]. She transformed her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals through the use of magical potions. She was renowned for her knowledge of drugs and herbs.

In [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'', her home is described as a stone mansion standing in the middle of a clearing in a dense wood. Around the house prowled lions and wolves, the drugged victims of her magic; they were not dangerous, and fawned on all newcomers. Circe worked at a huge loom. She invited [[Odysseus]]' crew to a feast, the food laced with one of her magical potions, and she turned them all into pigs with a wand after they gorged themselves on it. Only [[Eurylochus]], suspecting treachery from the outset, escaped to warn Odysseus and the others who had stayed behind at the ships. Odysseus set out to rescue his men, but was intercepted by [[Hermes]] and told to procure some of the herb moly to protect him from the same fate. When her magic failed he was able to force her to return his men to human form. She later fell in love with Odysseus and assisted him in his quest to reach his home after he and his crew spent a year with her on her island. Odysseus and Circe made love in her "flawless bed of love" as well.

According to Homer, she suggested to Odysseus two alternative routes to return to Ithaca: either toward the "Wandering Rocks", where King Aeolus reigned or, to pass between the dangerous [[Scylla]] and the whirlpool Charybdis, conventionally identified with the Strait of Messina.

Almost at the end of [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'' (1011f) we find that Circe bore of Odysseus three sons: Agrius (otherwise unknown), [[Latinus]], and [[Telegonus]] who ruled over the Tyrsenoi, that is the Etruscans.

Later poets generally only speak of Telegonus as Odysseus' son by Circe. When grown to manhood, later poets reported, she sent him to find Odysseus, who had long since returned to his home on [[Ithaca]], but on arrival Telegonus accidentally killed his father. He brought the body back to Aeaea and took Odysseus' widow [[Penelope]] and son [[Telemachus]] with him. Circe made them immortal and married Telemachus, while Telegonus made Penelope his wife.

[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] (1.72.5) cites Xenagoras the historian as claiming that Odysseus and Circe had three sons: Romus, Anteias, and Ardeias who respectively founded three cities called by their names: Rome, Antium, and Ardea.

That Circe also purified the [[Argonauts]] for the death of [[Apsyrtus]] may be early tradition.

In later tales Circe turned [[Picus]] into a woodpecker for refusing her love, and Scylla into a monstrous creature with six dogs' heads when [[Glaucus]] (another object of Circe's affection) declared his undying love for her. She had one daughter: [[Aega (mythology)|Aega]].

==External links==

*[http://www.geocities.com/medea19777/circe.html Tales of Circe]

[[Category:Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Characters in the Odyssey]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:56, January 5, 2006
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−	In [[Greek mythology]], '''Circe''' or '''Kirkê''' (Greek '''Κίρκη''') was a [[goddess]] living on the [[island]] of [[Aeaea]].	+	In [[Greek mythology]], '''Circe''' or '''Kirkê''' (Greek '''Κίρκη''') was a goddess living on the island of [[Aeaea]].

	Circe's father was [[Helios]], the pre-Olympic [[Titan (mythology)\|titan]] of the Sun, and her mother was [[Perse]], an [[Oceanid]]; she was sister of [[Aeetes]], the king of [[Colchis]] and of [[Pasiphae]] and [[Aegea\|Aga]]. She transformed her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals through the use of magical potions. She was renowned for her knowledge of drugs and herbs.		Circe's father was [[Helios]], the pre-Olympic [[Titan (mythology)\|titan]] of the Sun, and her mother was [[Perse]], an [[Oceanid]]; she was sister of [[Aeetes]], the king of [[Colchis]] and of [[Pasiphae]] and [[Aegea\|Aga]]. She transformed her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals through the use of magical potions. She was renowned for her knowledge of drugs and herbs.

Circe - Revision history

Irlandos at 15:56, January 5, 2006

Irlandos at 15:56, January 5, 2006