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Summary
Chapter 7
The next day, Helios takes Circe in his chariot to the remote island and abandons her. Circe feels isolated and disoriented, but she knows no one back in her father’s palace is thinking of or grieving her exile. There is a nice house on a hilltop on the island surrounded by forests with a view of the sea. Inside, Circe finds all the comforts she might need. There is magic at work in the house. It is self-cleaning, and her stores of things like oil, wine, and grain replenish themselves. She makes a fire for herself and prepares her own food, things she’d never had to do before. She is also very aware of her solitude, and she feels afraid and unprotected.
Although the forest intimidates Circe, she feels drawn to its lush plant life. On her first morning, she goes exploring and begins to feel the benefits of her new freedom. She goes over every inch of the island, feeling at home and excited about the potential for developing her powers. Being alone feels less like punishment and more like an opportunity for a new life. She experiments with plants and her witchcraft, failing again and again until she begins to make progress. She is excited by the prospect of being able to shape the world around her and revels for the first time in the intoxicating effects of having power.
She begins with small spells such as turning an acorn into a strawberry, making wilted flowers bloom, and keeping flies out of her house. She then progresses to slightly larger acts of witchcraft like transforming animals into different creatures. She recognizes that while she can change physical forms, she cannot transform minds. A bee she turns into a toad, for example, keeps trying to fly. Circe wonders if Scylla’s essential self still lives inside the monster she’s become. When Circe a wild boar threatens Circe, she realizes she has the power to not only communicate with but also control animals. She summons a lioness who becomes her faithful companion.
Circe feels her true self emerging in exile. She wishes the nymphs from her father’s palace could see her and tremble. She now understands how her brother was able to face her father so boldly. Her magic makes her brave and eager to demonstrate her power to others.
Chapter 8
The god Hermes visits looking for a place to hide a lyre he stole from Apollo. Circe enjoys his company. Hermes is clever and intelligent, and he informs her that her voice, a source of derision back home, is actually a mortal voice. He also tells her the name of her island is Aiaia. Circe recognizes the name and tells Hermes it is the place where her father formed his alliance with Zeus in the war between the Olympians and the Titans.
Hermes visits frequently, and the two become lovers. He shares gossip with her, including stories about Scylla in her cave out at sea and how she snatches passing sailors and eats them. Hermes also tells Circe that there is a prophecy that the hero Odysseus of Ithaca will come to Aiaia one day.
Circe does not trust Hermes. She guards her words and thoughts from him. Knowing the history of the island, Circe waits until she thinks Hermes is not watching before harvesting a flower she calls moly that has the power of turning away evil.
Analysis
In this section, Circe’s trajectory and character evolve once again. Not only is there a change in setting from her father’s home to a remote island, but Circe also experiences a groundbreaking personal change: for the first time, she is free from her family. However, it's hard to completely escape her father’s reach; Aiaia is filled with everything Circe could want or need, but it's apparent that Helios didn't provide the comforts for Circe's sake, but as a way of proving his importance and power. Meanwhile, despite her feelings of initial isolation, Circe’s effortless connection with all Aiaia’s plant life indicates that her witchcraft is going to be entwined with the natural world.
Circe’s process of learning witchcraft highlights how different she is from the gods, and she finds joy in her efforts. Her initial failures and having to put in physical labor to achieve her goals are well beneath the other gods. Circe, however, takes pride in her efforts and feels alive for the first time. While her siblings would have thought of her toil as dull and not worth the effort, Circe enjoys the progress that comes from hard physical work. What begins as modest successes evolves into an impressive power through trial and error and a trust in her intuition. Circe’s skills grow due to her rising confidence, and she realizes that being herself makes her happy. One epiphany she has is one which no other god she knows would ever question— the living beings she transforms are only changed on the outside, yet they retain the essence of their inner selves. The bee that becomes a toad is still a bee on the inside, after all. This forces her to wonder for the rest of the novel what Scylla’s life is like, a thought that does not bring her pride or joy. And yet this eons-long concern will even further set her apart from the gods.
Hermes makes several things clear to Circe that push her to further understand the world and the relationship between destruction and power. As a man, he has more experience with the world than her. First, he explains that Circe sounds like a mortal and that humans won’t fear her as they would other gods. This not only foreshadows future interactions with men who aren’t scared of her but also elaborates on the hierarchy with gods above humans since Circe has been mocked and disdained for her voice. Additionally, Hermes explains why Zeus punishes Prometheus so severely for helping humans. Miserable humans make better offerings to the gods, Hermes says. Therefore, it is in the gods’ best interests to keep humankind miserable to maintain their power structure. Hermes extends this idea to the presence of the monster Scylla because things that terrify and threaten humans result in more prayers and offerings to the gods. Hermes functions as a chorus to illustrate the inner workings of the power-hungry gods in juxtaposition against their devoted mortals.
