Helios and the Oceanid Perse bore Circe, Aeetes, and Pasiphae — a lineage renowned for sorcery. All three children inherited formidable powers of pharmakeia.
During his year on Aeaea, Odysseus became Circe's lover. Their son Telegonus later sailed to Ithaca seeking his father and accidentally killed Odysseus, fulfilling Tiresias's prophecy.
After Odysseus fell to Telegonus's spear, Circe granted Telemachus immortality and took him as her consort on the island of Aeaea, a union sealed in the aftermath of the hero's death.
⚠ The Telegony is a lost cyclic poem known only through Proclus's summary. The marriage of Telemachus to Circe appears only in this tradition."
Circe rules the island of Aeaea, where she dwells in a stone palace surrounded by enchanted wolves and lions — men she has transformed with her potions.
Circe advised Odysseus to choose the strait of Scylla over Charybdis, warning that while Scylla would take six men, Charybdis could swallow the entire ship.
Glaucus sought Circe's help to win Scylla's love, but Circe desired Glaucus herself. When he refused her, she poisoned Scylla's bathing pool instead, transforming the nymph into a monster.
When Jason and Medea fled Colchis after murdering Medea's brother Absyrtus, they sought purification from Circe. She performed the ritual but ordered them away, horrified by their crime.
After Telegonus accidentally killed Odysseus, Circe brought Penelope and Telemachus to her island of Aeaea and made them both immortal.
Circe warned Odysseus not to let his men harm the sacred cattle of Helios on Thrinacia. Her father's herds were the one danger she could not protect Odysseus from.
Hermes gave Odysseus the herb moly to resist Circe's magic on Aeaea, enabling Odysseus to confront the enchantress and free his men from their transformation into swine.
On Aeaea, Circe transformed Odysseus's men into swine. Protected by Hermes's herb moly, Odysseus forced her to restore them and remained as her lover for a year before resuming his voyage.
Circe desired Picus when she found him hunting alone in the Laurentine woods, but the king rebuffed her, declaring his love for Canens. Enraged, Circe struck him with her wand and turned him into a woodpecker, then transformed his searching companions into wild beasts.
Circe warned Odysseus about the Sirens and instructed him to plug his crew's ears with beeswax. Following her counsel, Odysseus alone heard their song while bound to the mast.
Circe armed her son Telegonus with a spear tipped with a stingray spine. He unknowingly used it to kill his father Odysseus on Ithaca, fulfilling the prophecy of death from the sea.
Circe directed Odysseus to sail to the underworld and consult the shade of Tiresias, providing detailed instructions for the necromantic rites needed to summon the dead prophet.
We use cookies to understand how you use our site and improve your experience. Learn more