Circe Background

Circe Background

In Circe (2018), American author Madeline Miller tells the story of Homer's The Odyssey from the point of view of the eponymous Circe. Although Circe is a relatively strange and abnormal child - she's neither pretty like her mother nor powerful like her father. But she does have one ability: witchcraft, something which gets her into a tremendous amount of trouble, as Zeus banished her to an island devoid of life. There, she hones her craft and goes on an intense and interesting journey.

When it was released, Circe received incredibly positive reviews. Kirkus Reviews, for example, included the book in their list of "Best Books of 2018," said that readers should "get" the book, and writes that "Miller makes Homer pertinent to women facing 21st-century monsters." The New York Times thought similarly, writing that Miller's book is “A bold and subversive retelling of the goddess’s story that manages to be both epic and intimate in its scope, recasting the most infamous female figure from the Odyssey as a hero in her own right.”

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