Circe Vocabulary and Character Flashcards

Vocabulary and character flashcards derived from the lecture notes on Madeline Miller's novel Circe.

Circe

The novel's protagonist and a Titan divinity whose name means hawk; she is exiled to the island Aiaia for using witchcraft.

Odysseus

The prince of Ithaca and hero of the Trojan War who stays on Aiaia for a year with Circe and is later killed by Telegonus.

Telemachus

The prince of Ithaca and son of Odysseus who flees to Aiaia with Penelope and falls in love with Circe.

Telegonus

The adventurous son of Circe and Odysseus who enables Circe to experience lasting love and accidentally kills his father.

Daedalus

A master inventor, craftsman, and Pasiphaë’s mortal prisoner who becomes Circe's lover and gives her a loom.

Penelope

The wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus who becomes good friends with Circe and eventually resides on Aiaia.

Scylla

A beautiful nymph whom Circe transforms into a murderous monster out of jealousy, and later turns into stone.

Glaucos

A mortal fisherman transformed into a god by Circe, whose transformation leads to Circe's banishment.

Hermes

The messenger god and lover of Circe who brings news from the outside world and helps Telegonus build a ship.

Athena

The Olympian goddess of wisdom and patron of Odysseus who seeks to kill infant Telegonus and becomes Circe's adversary.

Helios

The god of the sun and father of Circe who exiles her to Aiaia to avoid a battle with Zeus.

Perse

A nymph daughter of Oceanus, wife of Helios, and mother of Circe, who takes pride that her four children are pharmakis.

Aeëtes

Circe's younger brother, a powerful sorcerer who becomes cynical and cruel after establishing a kingdom in Cochis.

Prometheus

A Titan god punished for giving fire to humans, to whom Circe secretly brings nectar during his public punishment.

Pasiphaë

Circe's clever and cruel sister, wife to Minos, mother of the Minotaur, and a skilled practitioner of witchcraft.

Perses

Circe's older brother who taunts her and leaves their father's palace to live in Persia as a powerful witch.

Medea

Circe's niece and daughter of Aeëtes, a powerful witch who visits Circe disguised under a veil for ritual spiritual cleansing.

Jason

The prince of Iolcos and husband of Medea who takes the golden fleece from Aeëtes before fleeing to Aiaia.

Minotaur

A horrible monster with the head of a bull and body of a man, fathered by Minos and Pasiphaë and kept in a maze.

Minos

The king of Crete, a demi-god fathered by Zeus, and husband of Pasiphaë who demands human sacrifices from Athens.

pharmaka

The term for Circe's magic.

katharsis

The sacred rite of ritual spiritual cleansing requested by Medea and Jason after committing bloody acts.