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Chapter 21
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Circe, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power, Fear, and Self-Preservation
Women, Power, and Misogyny
Change, Initiative, and the Self
Mortality, Fragility, and Fulfillment
Family and Individuality
Summary
Analysis
Penelope is a masterful weaver. When Telemachus and Telegonus enter, Telegonus rushes to the loom to praise her skill. Circe watches Telemachus stiffen and turn away. After lunch, while Circe and Telegonus walk together, Circe suddenly realizes that she still doesn’t know why Penelope and Telemachus decided to come to Aiaia. She abruptly asks Telegonus whose idea it was, and he reveals that although he had suggested going to Sparta (where Penelope has family), Penelope asked to come to Aiaia for “a little time.” Although Circe pushes for more explanation, Telegonus doesn’t recall anything else.
Telegonus still feels extremely guilty for having indirectly caused Odysseus’s death, and he tries to make up for it by being overly attentive to his guests. Meanwhile, Circe realizes that Penelope distracted her from getting an answer as to why she and Telemachus came to Aiaia. This suggests that Circe may have underestimated Penelope’s cleverness. In this way, Circe has internalized ancient Greece’s expectations that women aren’t particularly skilled; she didn’t predict that Penelope would outwit her.
Themes
That evening, after Penelope and Telegonus go to bed, Telemachus asks Circe to tell him whatever stories of Odysseus she has. So she begins, telling him of all the tales of Odysseus that she knows. She doesn’t shy from the brutal or gory details, and neither does Telemachus, who listens attentively.
Telemachus, unlike Telegonus, is not naïve of the world’s cruelty. Where Telegonus only wanted to believe that Odysseus was a perfect hero, Telemachus wants to know and confront his father’s wickedness. He wants to learn what his father did so that he can be less like him.
Themes
The last story that Circe tells is Odysseus’s encounter with the cyclops Polyphemus, whose cave Odysseus and his men got trapped in. Odysseus managed to outwit the monster, blinding him and escaping the cave with his men. Yet just as they got to their ship, Odysseus called back to Polyphemus, shouting to take credit for his own trickery. Armed with this information, Polyphemus asked his father, Poseidon, to unleash his wrath on Odysseus and his crew.
Odysseus’s encounter with the cyclops demonstrates his selfishness and narcissism. By giving the cyclops his name so that he could take credit for his cleverness, Odysseus jeopardized his men’s journey home. In other words, he prioritized getting fame over protecting his men. This is another example of how, in a society that is obsessed with accumulating power, people become careless with others’ lives when they have something to gain.
Themes
After a moment, Telemachus passionately derides Odysseus’s pride, saying that “he made life for others a misery” in order to win glory for himself. Circe then tells Telemachus of when Odysseus visited the underworld. There, Odysseus had spoken to Achilles who warned him of his proud ways. Achilles said that he himself wished that he had chosen a life of peace and the joy that comes with it. Telemachus is angered that Circe would suggest that this is what he must wait for: an apology from his father when they are both spirits.
Achilles’s comment to Odysseus suggests that a life spent chasing power and glory is an empty and joyless one—it is more fulfilling to live a peaceful life in obscurity than it is to spread violence in order to become famous. Telemachus becomes angry with Circe when she suggests that he wait to find peace with Odysseus when they are both spirits. His impatience suggests that he is tired of waiting for a situation to right itself—he knows that inaction never brings about change. While his father’s death means that Telemachus cannot speak with him in order to come to peace with his father’s cruelty and carelessness, perhaps Telemachus can still take action to find peace for himself.
Themes
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Telemachus is about to go to bed when Circe asks why he came to Ithaca. After a moment, he tells her that Penelope suggested it, but he does not know her reasons. As he heads back to his room, Circe suddenly remembers how Penelope had asked about the spell over the island, wanting confirmation that it can keep out gods. Circe burns with rage, but she decides to wait for morning to speak with Penelope.
Circe realizes the reason behind Penelope’s coming here: she wants protection from the gods. Circe is furious because whatever divinity Penelope is avoiding is now directing their attention and wrath on Aiaia, which puts Circe and Telegonus in danger. This illustrates that Penelope is prioritizing her and her son’s safety over Circe’s and Telegonus’s, another example of how people in the world of the novel exploit each other.
Themes
At breakfast the next day, Circe sends Telegonus and Telemachus to fix the sty. Once alone with Penelope, Circe demands to know which god Penelope is trying to outrun, exclaiming that, by coming to Aiaia, she puts Circe and Telegonus in danger as well. When Penelope doesn’t answer the question, Circe threatens to use her magic. At this, Penelope confirms Circe’s suspicions, but she adds that it is only just that she endangers Circe, since Circe is responsible for Odysseus’s death.
Circe threatens Penelope into explaining herself, which demonstrates how people in power use fear in order to control those who have less. Unlike Telemachus, Penelope does think that someone other than Odysseus is to blame for his death: Circe. Given that Circe didn’t actually have a hand in Odysseus’s death, it is possible that Penelope is simply blaming Circe because she is jealous of Circe’s relationship with her husband. Now, she seeks to punish Circe for the pain that Penelope undoubtedly felt over her husband’s infidelity. Penelope’s plan to come to Aiaia demonstrates her cleverness; because she has no power to fight a god, she exploits Circe’s power. Now that she has made Circe complicit in her defying of a god, Circe may feel obliged to continue keeping the god at bay, lest that god unleash their anger on Circe and Telegonus, too.
Themes
Circe reminds Penelope that, while on Aiaia, she is at Circe’s mercy, and that if she wishes to stay, she must tell Circe everything. So, Penelope does, starting with Odysseus’s return after the war. Unlike Telemachus, who believes that the war had ruined his father, Penelope says that it only revealed Odysseus’s true self: a schemer, a warrior, and a commander. Returning to domestic life was painful for him because he was away from his real passion—war. On top of this, Athena frequently visited Odysseus, urging him to seek out more adventures. Circe understands that Athena would never let her favorite man fade into obscurity.
Circe threatens Penelope into speaking again, once more demonstrating how fear can be used as a tool to manipulate people. Athena’s provoking Odysseus demonstrates how she never really cared about his life—she was only ever interested in what Odysseus could provide for her, such as achieving glory in her name. In a way, she contributed to Odysseus’s downfall, as her pressing him to act destroyed his marriage and even lead to his paranoia. Athena is a good example of how, when the gods do happen to take interest in a specific mortal, it is always for their own benefit—they don’t actually care about mortals’ well-being.
Themes
Penelope fears that Athena aims to make Telemachus her newest hero. But Penelope is not ready to lose her son to the whims of the gods, especially not now when she needs so desperately to repair her relationship with him. It is for this reason that she seeks more time from Circe, who relents and promises that they can wait out the winter season on Aiaia.
Penelope has already lost Odysseus to the gods and refuses to lose Telemachus to them as well. Her life is a good example of the gods’ callousness toward mortals. Athena doesn’t care about all the emotional pain that she is causing Penelope by trying to drag Odysseus and Telemachus into schemes that will bring her (Athena) glory. Circe takes pity on Penelope and agrees to let her stay, probably because she knows how Penelope feels: Circe also resents the gods and how they use their power selfishly, often destroying others’ lives in their grabs for more power.
Themes
