CIRCE a Mythological Fantasy by Madeline Miller - Goddess Circe Considers Mortals v. Gods

CIRCE is a mythological goddess that played a minor role in Homer's Odyssey which is an interminable read about Greek gods getting their thrills through toying with mere mortals.  Circe is the heroine of the novel so named cleverly written by Madeline Miller (b Amer 1978).  CIRCE is Miller's 2nd novel.  Her debut novel "The Song of Achilles" received the Orange Prize for Fiction.  Both novels are immersed in a mythological world the embattles mortals against the immortal gods upon Mt. Olympus.  CIRCE is an entertaining lesson in mythology even for those who do not favor mythology or "The Odyssey" (either Homer or Joyce.)  Regardless, CIRCE takes much of the venom from learning the multitudinous relationships amongst the many Titans and mighty mortals with whom they clash like Athena & her lethal arrows.  Circe is one of Helios' 4 children born to Perse an Oceanid.  Helios is the sun god, given to infinite radiance & rage.  As their child, Circe is a goddess imbued with immortality along with the other almighty gods.  But, she is not quite aligned with the gods.  Circe reminds me of Belle from "Beauty & the Beast".  That goddess is strange, no?  No denying she's a funny goddess that Circe.  Circe as a mortal's softer but discordant voice amongst the gods.  She perpetually ponders what more is there to life than this privileged immortality.  Her independent streak enrages her father who banishes her to an isolated island for all eternity but not before she bestows a secretive kindness towards Prometheus sentenced to a quotidian of pain for giving mortals fire and her malicious, jealous act of magic strewn upon her beautiful sister Scylla.  Circe cast a spell changing Scylla into a hideous sea monster who eats errant sailors and many of Ulyssey's crew. While much of the fantastical odyssey involving Circe centers around water, witchcraft and mystical beings, the novel tends to be dry, arcane & erudite.  But what does reverberate are the perpetual comparisons Circe draws between being born mortal, thereby destined to age & die or bestowed above the heavens born of the preeminent gods.  "Gods pretend to be parents but they are children."  "Vengeance. Lust Hubris. Greed. Power and vanity are attributes of the gods.   Relentless mortals "...could not imagine the scope of gods, the mercilessness that comes of seeing generations rise and fall around you." Circe learns "Gods and mortals do not last together happily."  Circe's final epiphany, "I thought once that gods the opposite of death but I see now they are more dead than anything for they are unchanging."  Admittedly, heretofore not a fan of the never ending mythological clan, CIRCE provided a pleasurable journey through the legacy of the Odyssey and Greek mythology.