Circe in the context of "Helios"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Circe in the context of "Helios"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Circe

In Greek mythology, Circe (/ˈsərs/; Ancient Greek: Κίρκη, romanizedKírkē, pronounced [kírkɛː]) is an enchantress, sometimes considered a goddess or a nymph. In most accounts, Circe is described as the daughter of the sun god Helios and the Oceanid Perse. Circe was renowned for her vast knowledge of potions and herbs. Through the use of these and a magic wand or staff, she would transform her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals.

The best known of her legends is told in Homer's Odyssey when Odysseus visits her island of Aeaea on the way back from the Trojan War and she changes most of his crew into swine. He manages to persuade her to return them to human shape, lives with her for a year and has sons by her, including Latinus and Telegonus. Her ability to change others into animals is further highlighted by the story of Picus, an Italian king whom she turns into a woodpecker for resisting her advances. Another story tells of her falling in love with the sea-god Glaucus, who prefers the nymph Scylla to her. In revenge, Circe poisoned the water where her rival bathed and turned her into a dreadful monster.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier

Circe in the context of Telemachus

In Greek mythology, Telemachus (/təˈlɛməkəs/ tə-LEM-ə-kəs; Ancient Greek: Τηλέμαχος, romanizedTēlemakhos, lit.'far-fighter') is the son of Odysseus and Penelope, who are central characters in Homer's Odyssey. When Telemachus reached manhood, he visited Pylos and Sparta in search of his wandering father. On his return to Ithaca, he found that Odysseus had reached home before him. Then father and son slay the suitors who had gathered around Penelope. According to later tradition, Telemachus married Circe after Odysseus's death.

The first four books of the Odyssey focus on Telemachus's journeys in search of news about his father, who has yet to return home from the Trojan War, and are traditionally given the title Telemachy.

↑ Return to Menu

Circe in the context of Telegony

The Telegony (Ancient Greek: Τηλεγόνεια or Τηλεγονία, romanizedTēlegóneia, Tēlegonía) is a lost epic poem of Ancient Greek literature. It is named after Telegonus, the son of Odysseus by Circe, whose name ("born far away") is indicative of his birth on Aeaea, far from Odysseus' home of Ithaca. It was part of the Epic Cycle of poems that recounted the myths of the Trojan War as well as the events that led up to and followed it. The story of the Telegony comes chronologically after that of the Odyssey and is the final episode in the Epic Cycle. The poem was sometimes attributed in antiquity to Cinaethon of Sparta (8th century BC), but in one source it is said to have been stolen from Musaeus by Eugammon of Cyrene (6th century BC) (see Cyclic poets). Its contents are known from surviving summaries by later authors, most notably Eutychius Proclus. The poem comprised two books of verse in dactylic hexameter.

↑ Return to Menu

Circe in the context of Telegonus (son of Odysseus)

In Greek mythology, Telegonus (/təˈlɛɡənəs/; Ancient Greek: Τηλέγονος means "born afar") was the youngest son of Circe and Odysseus and thus, brother to Agrius and Latinus or Nausithous and Nausinous, and Cassiphone. In some accounts, he was called the son of the nymph Calypso and Odysseus instead.

↑ Return to Menu

Circe in the context of Aeaea

Aeaea, Ææa, Ææ̈ä or Eëä (/.ˈ.ə/ ee-EE or /ə.ˈ.ə/ ə-EE; Ancient Greek: Αἰαία, romanizedAiaíā [ai̯.ǎi̯.aː]) was a mythological island said to be the home of the goddess-sorceress Circe.

In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus tells Alcinous that he stayed here for one year on his way home to Ithaca. Before leaving Aeaea, Odysseus was given instructions by Circe about how to cross the ocean and assisted by the North Wind to reach the underworld:

↑ Return to Menu

Circe in the context of Medea

In Greek mythology, Medea (/mɪˈdə/; Ancient Greek: Μήδεια, romanizedMḗdeia; lit.'planner, schemer') is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished pharmakís, a worker in pharmakeía (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high-priestess of the goddess Hecate. She is a mythical granddaughter of the sun god Helios and a niece of Circe, an enchantress goddess. Her mother may have been Idyia.

She first appears in Hesiod's Theogony around 700 BC, but is best known from Euripides's 5th-century BC tragedy Medea and Apollonius of Rhodes's 3rd-century BC epic Argonautica. In the myth of the Argonauts, she aids Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece. Medea later marries him, but eventually kills their children and his other bride according to some versions of her story.

↑ Return to Menu

Circe in the context of Italus

Italus or Italos (from Ancient Greek: Ἰταλός) was a legendary king of the Oenotrians, ancient people of Italic origin who inhabited the region now called Calabria, in southern Italy. In his Fabularum Liber (or Fabulae), Gaius Julius Hyginus recorded the myth that Italus was a son of Penelope and Telegonus (a son of Odysseus by Circe).

According to Aristotle (Politics) and Thucydides (History of the Peloponnesian War), Italus was the eponym of Italy (Italia). Aristotle, writing in the 4th century BCE, relates that, according to tradition, Italus converted the Oenotrians from a pastoral society to an agricultural one and gave them various ordinances, being the first to institute their system of common meals.

↑ Return to Menu

Circe in the context of Meriones (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Meriones (/məˈrənz/ mə-RY-ə-neez; Ancient Greek: Μηριόνης, romanizedMēriónēs) was the Cretan son of Molus and Melphis or Euippe. Molus was a half-brother of Idomeneus. Like other heroes of mythology, Meriones was said to be a descendant of gods. As a grandson of Deucalion (son of Minos), Meriones's ancestors include Zeus, Europa, Helios, and Pasiphae, the sister of Circe. Meriones possessed the helmet of Amyntor, which Autolycus had stolen. He inherited the helmet from his father Molus and later gave it to Odysseus. Meriones killed seven men at Troy.

↑ Return to Menu

Circe in the context of Perses of Colchis

In Greek mythology, Perses (/ˈpɜːrsiz/; Ancient Greek: Πέρσης, romanizedPérsēs, lit.'destroyer') is the brother of Aeëtes, Aloeus, Circe and Pasiphaë, which makes him a son of Helios, the god of the sun, by Perse, an Oceanid nymph.

↑ Return to Menu

Circe in the context of Agrius

Agrius (/ˈæɡriəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἄγριος means "wild") in Greek mythology, is a name that may refer to:

The city of Agrinio, the largest city in Aetolia, took its name from Agrius.

↑ Return to Menu