Circe: Allusions 3 key examples

In Christianity, the "great chain of being" refers to the idea that God is the ultimate, perfect being, followed by angels, then humans, then animals, then plants. Each life form is an inferior, less perfect imitation of the last, and the idea holds that the entire universe can be sorted into this hierarchy descending from God.

Circe imagines a similar system. However, instead of becoming less and less perfect on the way down the chain, the beings in Circe's world become more and more fearful of the beings further up the chain. The hierarchy is governed by Zeus and then Helios's practically unlimited power at the top, which they use to threaten and control other gods. The lesser the god, the more they have to fear from these almighty powers. Circe has always heard that she should be afraid of mortals because many nymphs have been physically or sexually assaulted by them. In the past, it has seemed to her that she is caught between two independent dangers: greater gods seek to control her from one side, while mortals seek to control her from the other. Seeing the fear on the mortals' faces, she realizes that they are not a separate threat at all. They are part of the same hierarchy Circe has always struggled with in her father's hall. Mortals and nymphs try to control one another because as low as they are in the "great chain of fear," making someone else afraid is the only way not to fall even further.

This simile becomes central to Circe's character development over the course of the novel. She carries great shame about the moments when she hurts others to protect herself, and yet refusing to hurt others only seems to result in harm to her. Circe spends centuries trying to find a way out of the "great chain of fear." In the end, her choice to give up her immortal power is a bold dismissal of the notion that freedom is to be found by fighting her way up the chain.

Daedalus's statement that Icarus "does what he wants" gestures toward the way Icarus dies in Greek mythology. Daedalus, a legendarily talented craftsman, makes wings out of wax and molted bird feathers. He shows Icarus how to use the wings to fly so that the two of them can escape Crete, where Pasiphaë has long imprisoned them. Despite Daedalus's clear instruction not to fly too close to the sun for fear of melting the wax, Icarus is so thrilled by the miracle of human flight that he flies as high as he can until his wings fail, and he falls to his death.

The idea that Icarus's free will is an "old joke" between the father and son at once foreshadows Icarus's eventual death in the novel and also emphasizes that Icarus has had a full and rich existence up until now, complete with inside jokes. Icarus is one of many mythological characters in the novel who is known primarily for a single story. People have told that story over and over, turning Icarus into a symbol of his own death. Simply his name evokes a warning: do not "fly too close to the sun," for fear of getting burned. By contextualizing Icarus's bleak future within his complex and often joyous childhood, Miller invites readers to see him not as an immortal myth, but as a boy living his one and only life. This invitation is an extension of the care and empathy Miller visits on Circe as she considers the background and motivations that lead to Circe's "monstrous" behavior in mythology. As far as the book is concerned, all the characters were people long before they were myths.

In this context, the allusion also brings into question the idea of who is at fault for Icarus's death. Icarus has typically been blamed, both because he overestimates his capabilities and because he disobeys his father. However, it is the sun that kills Icarus. Within a novel about the daughter of the cruel, tyrannical sun—an actual, personified character—Icarus's death begins to look more unjust than cautionary. Daedalus seems to love Icarus for his free will. He even tells Circe that he wants Icarus to be free to live life on his terms. His directive to steer clear of the sun is not an attempt to make Icarus obey, but rather a warning against Helios's wrath. Like Circe, Icarus and his father are at the mercy of Helios's cruel whims.

Not only is homecoming a major theme in The Odyssey, but also Odysseus and Penelope's marriage bed is a major symbol of the home that awaits Odysseus at the end of his journey—no matter how long it takes him. Odysseus carved one of the bed posts out of the trunk of a standing olive tree, so that his and Penelope's house would be built around the immovable centerpiece of their bed. It symbolizes how steadfast their marriage is, even through Odysseus's decades-long absence from home (and multiple extra-marital affairs).

Circe's return to her "wide, gold bed" is an allusion to Odysseus's marriage bed. Like Odysseus, Circe spends what seems like forever trying to find her way home. Neither of them knows exactly what their home will look like when they find it, but they struggle on toward it nonetheless and make plenty of mistakes along the way. Both of them hurt people and worry about their sons. At last in this chapter, Circe returns to Aiaia and feels like she is home. As she climbs into her own bed, she even takes Odysseus's place as the third member of Penelope and Telemachus's family.

While the mention of Circe's bed helps draw a parallel between her homecoming and Odysseus's homecoming, it also draws a contrast between the two characters, their desires, and their choices. Circe's bed is not as comforting to her as it first seems, and not nearly as comforting as Odysseus's bed is to him. Gold and covered in sheets that are "ever fresh," it is a bed only a god could have. It never bears a trace of having been slept in, so it feels no different climbing into it after a long absence than after centuries of successive nights in it. Her bed reminds her of her immortal disconnection from all of the life on her island. Plants, animals, Penelope, and Telemachus will die one day, and Circe will still be here sleeping on the same sheets, "fresh as they ever were."

Circe distinguishes herself from Odysseus when she chooses to relinquish her immortality in favor of a more ordinary, mortal life. Whereas Odysseus spends his life seeking immortal glory and taking his ordinary bed at home for granted, Circe decides she would rather not miss the glory of ordinary life itself. She chooses a short lifetime of sheets that need changing over an unlimited future of mythical feats. Consequently, she lives out her days in happy obscurity. Odysseus, on the other hand, spends the last years of his life paranoid, violent, and too obsessed with his own glory to enjoy his home.