Circe

Also known as: Ææan Circe · Family: mythological · Role: enchantress · First appears: Fable 39

Circe is described as the daughter of Persa and as the daughter of Hecate; she is also called the daughter of Titan and of the Sun. In Fable 101, Glaucus comes to her court after Scylla (daughter of Cratæis) rejects him. In Fable 102, Circe offers herself to Glaucus and urges him to abandon Scylla, but he refuses, remaining devoted to her. Circe then uses enchanted herbs to poison Scylla’s bathing place and transform her into a monster.

In Fable 106, Macareus, Polytes, Elpenor, and their companions drink Circe’s potion and are transformed into swine. Ulysses resists the potion; after exchanging promises with Circe, he asks for his companions as his marriage gift. Circe reverses the enchantment, restoring them to human form.

In Fable 107, Circe proposes to Picus, who refuses her because he is devoted to Canens. Circe transforms him into a woodpecker, then changes his attendants into various monstrous wild beasts.