Circe, the female entity that attempted to trap Odysseus on his journey home, is an interesting figure who seems to occupy two worlds. The Oxford Classical Dictionary specifically calls her “powerful sorceress” 1 and she is called “goddess” a few times ( Odyssey 11.9 and 12.21). This sets her apart from other goddesses in the story because most of her actions come from the sorceress aspect, not the goddess. The nature of her magic, with it requiring touch to work and it being the only time in the Odyssey where this concept is used, lets her be viewed in a different light than, for example, Athena. For Circe, sorcery is her drugs and potions, which are called “bewitching” several times( Odyssey 10.339, 349) and her wand, which is called “magic”( Odyssey 10.314). Hermes also refers to what she does with drugs as a “magic spell”( Odyssey 10.311) when he gives Odysseus the herb. She does with sorcery what other goddesses would simply do as a result of them being goddess...
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