Circe: The Goddess of Sorcery - (Greek Mythology Explained)

the idea of magic and sorcery is one that we see fairly often in Greek mythology mostly because some of the things that we see the gods and goddesses do can only really be described as magical now there are a few minor deities that have been associated with magic and sorcery we've already taken a look at her karta the goddess of magic and today we'll be examining Circe the goddess of sorcery she was known to the ancient Greeks as killakee but as his common with most of the words in ancient Greek that contained a hard case ound when they were latinized and anglicized the hard case sound became a soft C and we now refer to her as Circe she was a daughter of Helios the titan god of the Sun and purse one of the many oceanic nymphs which meant that she had two siblings passive a the wife of King Minos and a et the guardian of the Golden Fleece Circe appeared in a variety of different forms sometimes she was seen as the goddess of magic and other times a nymph much like her mother but the most common depiction was that of an enchantress or sorceress she was a goddess known for her skills in transmutation illusion and necromancy it's believed that Circe took residence on the island of a a year with her many nymph companions after being exiled by her father there are a few explanations as to why she was exiled the most common being that she murdered the Prince of Colchis who at the time was also her husband they were very few who dare to venture to Circe's Island as she was capable of transforming those who angered her into a wild beast and she was best known for her role in Homer's Odyssey where we see exactly what she was capable of her mythology does describe the island that Circe lived on in some detail she lived in a large house in the middle of a dense wood and surrounded the house were numerous wild animals lions wolves and bears but unlike what you would expect these animals were extremely docile and they would prowl the surrounding grounds greeting newcomers and guests that they came across all of these animals were once human but as a result of Circe's transmutation experiments they were now nothing more than victims of her sorcery when Odysseus and his men reached Circe's Island they stumbled upon her residence and she invited them in even throwing a feast in the name of Odysseus and he screw the feast contained food that they were all familiar with piddles sweetened of honey and laced of wine as well as one of Circe's magical potions Circe herself drank from an enchanted cup as to not arouse suspicion from Odysseus's men the men suspected nothing and gorged themselves on the feast before them when the men's bellies were full the magical potion began to take effect Circe drew her staff and with one incantation she transformed them all into swine only Odysseus a second in command Eliquis suspected treachery and had not entered Circe's mansion well known in what had happened to his men he escaped and returned to the ship to warn Odysseus in the rest of the crew had elected to stay behind Odysseus took the men that he had left at his disposal and set out to rescue his crew but before he entered Circe's woods he was intercepted by Hermes who had a message from Athena she advised the dish's to use a specific herb to protect himself from the sorcery that his men had fallen victim to when Odysseus eventually confronted Circe he was able to resist her sorcery Circe then attempted to seduce Odysseus luring him to her bed Hermes had previously advised that he be cautious of such a thing as she would attempt to take his manhood unless he had her swear by the name of the gods that she would not odysseus eventually freed his men and they remained on the island for a year or so feast and and rested for the next voyage Homer's Odyssey doesn't redevelop the relationship between Cersei and Odysseus after their confrontation but we can assume that they at least remained civil with Circe allowing Odysseus and his men to remain on her island even advising Odysseus on what routes he should take on his next voyages now if we take a look at Hesiod's Theogony it does state that Circe bought a three sons of Odysseus a Deus latinus and telegonus who would set sail to find his father when Cersei informed him of who he was she gave to Legolas a poisonous spear that he would unknowingly kill his father with and along with this is his other son Telemachus whose mother was Penelope they brought a dish as his corpse to Cersei who were the use of some magical herbs and sorcery was able to bring Odysseus back from the dead the heroes so grateful that he gave his son Telemachus to Circe's daughter phanie in marriage but like many stories in Greek mythology this one would end in tragedy Telemachus would one day have a very heated discussion with his mother-in-law which would end in him killing Cersei kiss F&E with an avenge her mother by killing Telemachus and upon hearing the news of his son's death Odysseus would die from grief so I guess the next time you consider your own family to be dysfunctional you can consider yourself lucky that you're not Telemachus who watched his own father die only to be resurrected and forced him to marry his ex-lovers daughter whose mother he would eventually kill causing his wife to then kill him and his father to die from grief whatever you choose to take from a story of Cersei and Odysseus there's no doubt that it's a thoroughly entertaining and eventful story Cersei much like her karta was a minor goddess in Greek mythology and her association with magic and sorcery meant that she was later associated with witchcraft when that notion came into existence the scientific interpretations of Cersei show her to be somewhat of a botanist using plants and herbs that were caused amnesia hallucinations delusions and ultimately death sir Caesar got a son I'm fairly undecided on she doesn't come across as particularly caring or even patient anyone who disturbed her work or angered her was immediately punished by being turned into an animal what suddenly does come across is her devotion to her work I see Cersei as somewhat of a tinkerer experimenting with different potions and herbs to what end I'm not exactly sure of but power and knowledge are most likely what she was driven by she does happen to have many of the tropes that we were associated with witches the power of magic a collection of animal familiars and a house in the woods of the forest but I'd like to know how you guys feel about Cersei do you feel she harbored any resentment towards her father and the gods for exile in her or do you think she didn't really care do you see her as a sorceress or a witch or perhaps maybe a slightly all tempered botanist let me know in the comments below as always I've been your host mythology and fiction explained

Channel: Mythology & Fiction Explained

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Keywords: Circe, Circe Greek mythology, Circe the sorceress, Circe goddess of sorcery, Greek Mythology: Story of Circe, Who Is Circe In Greek Mythology?, Who was Circe?, What are the Circe's powers?, What is Circe best known for?, What are Circe's powers in the Odyssey?, What does Circe do?, How do you pronounce the word Circe?, Circe in greek mythology, homer's odyssey, circe Homer's odyysey, odysseus, odysseus greek mythology, Odysseus and circe

Id: kVRzYyRWy9s

Length: 6min 30sec (390 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 03 2018