Circe herself is a sympathetic protagonist, fitting neither into the divine nor the mortal worlds and often seeking what she cannot have. Miller’s novel is beautifully written and sumptuous in its depiction of a world which seems both a far-off mythical creation and intimately familiar. And of course Odysseus and his crew, returning home from Troy via Circe’s island. Circe encompasses some of most famous myths in Western literature: the punishment of Prometheus the Minotaur Jason, Medea and the Golden Fleece.
Ultimately, however, the real threats to Circe’s happiness come not from the gods, but from her own guilt and fears. In exile, she develops her arts, becoming more powerful until she can protect her island and those she loves even from the wrath of Athena. When she discovers a power that the other gods fear- witchcraft-she is banished to a remote island. Shunned by her divine family from birth, Circe is an outsider with a mortal’s voice. Miller’s novel tells the story of Circe, daughter of the sun-god Helios. But it is much more than a simple retelling. While the first, The Song of Achilles, focuses on the Iliad, the second turns its attention to stories told through the Odyssey. Madeline Miller returns to the Homeric epics for the inspiration for her second novel, Circe.
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