Previous
Chapter 10
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Circe, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power, Fear, and Self-Preservation
Women, Power, and Misogyny
Change, Initiative, and the Self
Mortality, Fragility, and Fulfillment
Family and Individuality
Summary
Analysis
Circe is brought to her room, which is near the servants’ wing of the palace. The next day, Daedalus visits her and brings her down to the underground corridors of the palace. As they walk, he tells her that the monster is named the Minotaur, which Circe recognizes as the king’s attempt to associate himself with the glory that monsters inspire.
Like Pasiphaë, Minos uses the monster as an opportunity to gain fame for himself. He names the beast after himself so that people will associate the fear that the beast generates with Minos himself. Significantly, Minos, and not Pasiphaë, names the monster. Even though she is the one who created the beast, Minos likely wants to hide the fact that his wife has more power than he does.
Themes
Daedalus and Circe arrive at the cage that Daedalus has built. He acknowledges that it will not hold forever—the Minotaur is already ferociously strong—but it buys him time to plan the next step. Circe approaches the monster in its cage, which, to Circe’s horror, is already littered with human bones. As it opens its mouth, Circe dumps her potion down its throat and speaks the spell. Immediately, the creature relaxes, already quieted. Watching it plod into its new cage, Circe knows that this monster, Pasiphaë’s “ambition made flesh,” will only know a life of hate and gore.
By making the Minotaur, Pasiphaë is not only responsible for all the deaths that the monster will cause, but also the miserable existence that the beast will live. In this way, Pasiphaë’s grab for power leaves behind a trail of abuse.
Themes
As Daedalus and Circe climb upstairs to the main halls, she tells him that she will not attend the evening feast and that she looks forward to returning to her island. Daedalus invites her to dine with him, as he hopes to leave the dinner early. She agrees and meets him in his quarters that night. While there, Daedalus introduces his son Icarus to her. Seeing Daedalus’s tenderness with the child, Circe knows that Pasiphaë must have immediately seen Daedalus’s love for him.
Themes
Literary Devices
Circe enjoys the ease of her conversation with Daedalus. They talk of the similarities between their arts and lifestyle, and he expresses sympathy for the cruelty she suffers at Pasiphaë’s hands. He then tells her that he plans to design a maze in the cellars of the palace for the Minotaur and jokes that he is sure Minos will think of a name that associates him with it.
Themes
Get the entire Circe LitChart as a printable PDF.
After Daedalus gives Icarus a goodnight kiss, Circe comments that the boy is very happy. Daedalus agrees, but he bitterly adds that it won’t last: “A golden cage is still a cage.” As Circe asks Daedalus where he dreams to go, she gazes into his face, comforted by his sturdiness and resolve. She wants to invite him to Aiaia but knows that the island holds nothing for him.
Themes
Circe returns to her room, mulling over her conversation with Daedalus. She is enraged on his behalf that Pasiphaë and Minos keep him imprisoned for their own glory. She recalls the love in Daedalus’s eyes when he looked at Icarus and knows that Pasiphaë instantly saw this as a way to keep him under her control.
Themes
Circe analyzes her time in Crete and realizes just how much the Minotaur is a victory for Pasiphaë: Minos’s humiliation, the subjugating terror of the Cretans, Daedalus’s guilt and his obligation to help, and even Circe’s obedience. Her fury mounting, Circe storms into Pasiphaë’s bedroom and demands to know why she brought her to Crete.
Themes
Pasiphaë dodges Circe’s question, enraging her even more. Circe exclaims that she deserves to know, after all her assistance with containing the Minotaur. After a pause, Pasiphaë tells Circe that she should know by now that obedience gets one nothing. She cites Circe’s childhood, how fawning over Helios and cringing at his feet only encouraged him to abuse her more. Morality means nothing and being a god’s favorite pretty mistress means nothing; “The only thing that makes them listen is power.”
Themes
Literary Devices
Pasiphaë goes on to say that, while everyone else was shocked that Circe ended up with powers, Pasiphaë wasn’t. She knew that Circe, like her, hated the family, and this spiteful resilience is the source of their power. Circe is stunned to hear that her sister, who in Circe’s mind represents their family’s cruelty, hates them too. But she knows that what Pasiphaë says is true: “nymphs [are] allowed to work only through the power of others.”
Reeling from the revelation, Circe asks why Pasiphaë hadn’t been friends with her and Aeëtes. Pasiphaë scoffs, telling Circe that Aeëtes only entertained her because of her ready praise. Circe asks about Perses, and Pasiphaë snaps that Circe is ignorant of all the things Pasiphaë had to do to keep his favor. When she was married off to Minos, Pasiphaë knew that she could handle him and has done so.
Themes
Pasiphaë chose Circe, she says, because Circe is like Pasiphaë and can endure pain. Circe is horrified at this claim and rejects it, saying that she is not like Pasiphaë. Circe catches an expression of surprise on her sister’s face before she insults Circe afresh. She calls her blind, ignorant of all that she (Pasiphaë) has had to do to maintain power and independence from Minos, who wants a breeder, not a queen. When Circe suggests that Helios would protect Pasiphaë from extreme abuse at Minos’s hands, Pasiphaë sneers, saying that Helios cares about his alliance with Zeus more than his children, which is why Circe is in exile. Zeus is afraid of witchcraft and “wanted a sacrifice,” which Helios happily provided. Pasiphaë then orders Circe to get out of her room.
Themes
Circe numbly returns to her quarters, where she is surprised by Daedalus waiting outside her door. At first surprised by his boldness, she realizes that exceptional people must be daring. She welcomes him into her room, and they have sex.
Themes
As Circe and Daedalus lie together afterward, Circe realizes that she can feel the Minotaur shaking the palace foundations. After Circe tells Daedalus that the monster will eat about 15 people a month during harvest, Daedalus tells her that he can feel the heavy responsibility for the deaths. She traces the scars on his hands as he speaks. He asks how she handles her guilt over Scylla. Thinking of Prometheus, Circe repeats the Titan’s words: “We bear it as best we can.”
Themes
For the next few days, Circe enjoys her nights with Daedalus and avoids Pasiphaë during the day. Finally, Minos allows her to leave. When she boards the ship, Daedalus sees her off and gives her two crates, which he says hold a gift he created. Even though Circe knew that they would be parted, she is nonetheless saddened as the ship pulls away. When Crete is out of site, she opens the crates, which contains cloth and a beautiful loom.
Themes
Years later, Circe hears of Daedalus’s escape. The craftsman made wings for himself and Icarus to fly away from Crete to Africa. But Icarus flew too close to the sun, melting the wax that held the wings together, and he fell to the earth and died. When Circe hears the tale from Hermes, she imagines Daedalus flying relentlessly forward, though crippled with grief. He dies soon after, but Circe never forgets him.
Themes
