If you were forced to read Homer’s Odyssey in high school, you might remember Circe. A daughter of the sun-god Helios, she is best known as the lover of Odysseus who turns men into pigs. She has been the focus of art and literature, an object of terror and sexual desire. She has been called witch, sorceress, femme fatale, whore. But in Circe, author Madeline Miller shows readers the goddess’s human side. Circe paints a sympathetic portrait of the title character as she journeys through her immortal life, facing assault and ostracization, which causes her to summon the magic within. Equally parts tragic and beautiful, both melancholic yet inspiring, Miller weaves mythology with captivating prose to create a feminist retelling that feels particularly relevant to the #MeToo era.  

        Circe’s first-person narration weaves through her unhappy childhood and solitary immortal life. Despite her god status, she feels innately human. Perhaps it is her loneliness that makes her relatable. Like anyone else, she longs for love, and to find her place in the world. She falls in love with a mortal, a god, and eventually that infamous king of Ithaca who turns up on her island, only to have her heart broken by each of them. The details of Circe’s rape are harrowing but while many Greek myths gloss over women’s sexual assault, in focusing on Circe’s emotional life, Miller emphasizes that Circe is a survivor, not a victim. She does not allow her experiences to define her life or her character. Circe’s losses shape her into the woman she becomes, a woman who knows her power. You may remember Circe as the witch who turns men into pigs. Now you will understand why she did it.  

        Miller’s writing is as enchanting as Circe’s magic, evoking a secluded Mediterranean island in the golden twilight. Circe includes cameos from other famous characters from mythology, from Prometheus to Medea, but one does not need to be knowledgeable about Greek mythology to appreciate Circe. Miller references these classic myths but her story is decidedly modern. 

        With the rise of the #MeToo movement, women all over the world have spoken against the abuses they have faced, and Circe, too, can finally tell her own story after centuries of sexism from predominantly male scholars. One of the most powerful moments in the novel is when Circe is standing on the shores of her island, thinking about how she can not bear the world anymore. In that dark moment, her inner voice encourages her: “Then, child, make another.”

        At its core, Miller’s work is a feminist tale about a woman with strength in the face of adversity. Circe reminds us that we can create a world we want to live in because we have all the power we need inside of us already. We are the ones who forge our destinies.