Circe by Madeline Miller

3.5 Stars

A different point of view.

This rendition of Circe, daughter of Helios, witch, and Titan is told from her perspective. A reckoning and analysis of the hows and whys of what has been told before might have come to pass. This isn't redemption per se, but rather a retelling with less demonization. I like Greek mythology a lot, and I liked this, too.

Rebellion is for prosperous islands, or else those so ground down they have no other choice.

Circe is an easy target for vilification: plain, insolent, lack of groveling, and power. This version is more complex, but it also rubbed me almost the wrong way by the end. Circe comes across as wise and compassionate to the point of being taken advantage of, and she knows it. She accepts it willing. The reasoning Miller makes is a fine one, but I don't like it. But hey, it's her life I don't have to like what Circe chooses for herself, but it made me wish for more.

Frankly, I understood her father's logic much more.

"Tell me," he said, "who give better offerings, a happy man or a miserable one?"
"A happy one, or course."
"Wrong," he said. "A happy man is too occupied with his life. He thinks he is beholden to no one. But make him shiver, kill his wife, cripple his child, then you will hear from him. He will starve his family for a month to buy you a pure-white yearling. If he can afford, he will buy you a hundred."

Whelp. That explains politics, doesn't it. 

And to be honest, my estimation of where this story was going went downhill fast with Miller's inevitable introduction of Odysseus, the liar and thief, whom Circe seemed more than amused by. I get it, she's bored and isolated, but he was the worst sort. Additionally, Ajax's character summary I vigorously deny. Dull-brained and lacking a silver tongue are not the same thing.

Prior to that, I loved the glimpse of Prometheus. Daedalus and the Minotaur were wonderful. After Odysseus, there's Telegonus and Telemachus and Penelope. I suppose these were fine, but I drifted down to the end. So this ends up ranking under four stars, but certainly not three--I'd go with three and half.