Circe: Dramatic Irony 2 key examples

Circe does not understand exactly how she turned Glaucos into a god. She fears that she will get in trouble if anyone finds out; as a lowly nymph, she does not believe that she is supposed to have power nearly on the order that she is beginning to realize she does. She comes armed with an explanation, but Tethys brushes her off. The dismissal is both a relief and a bitter reminder of Circe's place in the family hierarchy. She is considered so lowly and unremarkable that her grandmother does not for a moment suspect that she could have had a hand in Glaucos's transformation. Circe is able to keep her secret for now, at the expense of her self-esteem. It is this bitter price that eventually leads Circe to admit before her father that she is a witch.

There is a second layer of dramatic irony at play in this scene. Circe states that, "No one had ever suspected me." After she admits publicly to being a witch, she finds out that all four of Perse's children have these same powers. They, too, have used pharmaka to bend the world to their will, but they have refrained from talking about it. Aëetes even seems to know more about Circe's powers than she does. As it turns out, practically everyone suspects her. However, it keeps the peace if they pretend not to. If witchcraft goes unacknowledged, Zeus and Helios do not have to feel threatened by it. Circe is ultimately exiled not because she is a witch, but rather because she has the audacity to speak openly about her power.

Greek mythology is full of disguises and revelations about identities. In The Odyssey, one of the most central influences on Miller's book, strangers are always showing up at one another's homes. There is often a careful dance of hospitality the characters follow to establish trust before they reveal to each other who they really are. Because The Odyssey is an epic tale about heroes and gods, the strangers usually turn out to be very important people. Even Athena herself makes regular appearances in disguise.

In this scene, Miller draws on these conventions surrounding disguises and identities. The veil and the woman's downward gaze draw attention to the fact that neither Circe nor the reader knows who the visitors are. They could be anyone. At the same time, the need for the woman to conceal her face hints at the idea that her identity is especially important. It is a secret that she feels she must guard until Circe proves herself to be a welcoming host. This secrecy suggests that she is almost surely going to be someone the reader and Circe alike have heard of. The way Medea hides her face and hair with the veil thus creates dramatic irony that is all the more tense because it foreshadows her significance. Sure enough, she is both a recognizable figure in Greek mythology and also Circe's own niece. By veiling herself, she at once conceals these facts about herself and also signals to Circe that she ought not to kill her right away.