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Chapter 21
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
Penelope is a masterful weaver. When Telemachus and Telegonus enter, Telegonus rushes to the loom to praise her skill. Circe watches Telemachus stiffen and turn away. After lunch, while Circe and Telegonus walk together, Circe suddenly realizes that she still doesn’t know why Penelope and Telemachus decided to come to Aiaia. She abruptly asks Telegonus whose idea it was, and he reveals that although he had suggested going to Sparta (where Penelope has family), Penelope asked to come to Aiaia for “a little time.” Although Circe pushes for more explanation, Telegonus doesn’t recall anything else.
Telegonus still feels extremely guilty for having indirectly caused Odysseus’s death, and he tries to make up for it by being overly attentive to his guests. Meanwhile, Circe realizes that Penelope distracted her from getting an answer as to why she and Telemachus came to Aiaia. This suggests that Circe may have underestimated Penelope’s cleverness. In this way, Circe has internalized ancient Greece’s expectations that women aren’t particularly skilled; she didn’t predict that Penelope would outwit her.
Themes
That evening, after Penelope and Telegonus go to bed, Telemachus asks Circe to tell him whatever stories of Odysseus she has. So she begins, telling him of all the tales of Odysseus that she knows. She doesn’t shy from the brutal or gory details, and neither does Telemachus, who listens attentively.
Telemachus, unlike Telegonus, is not naïve of the world’s cruelty. Where Telegonus only wanted to believe that Odysseus was a perfect hero, Telemachus wants to know and confront his father’s wickedness. He wants to learn what his father did so that he can be less like him.
Themes
The last story that Circe tells is Odysseus’s encounter with the cyclops Polyphemus, whose cave Odysseus and his men got trapped in. Odysseus managed to outwit the monster, blinding him and escaping the cave with his men. Yet just as they got to their ship, Odysseus called back to Polyphemus, shouting to take credit for his own trickery. Armed with this information, Polyphemus asked his father, Poseidon, to unleash his wrath on Odysseus and his crew.
Themes
After a moment, Telemachus passionately derides Odysseus’s pride, saying that “he made life for others a misery” in order to win glory for himself. Circe then tells Telemachus of when Odysseus visited the underworld. There, Odysseus had spoken to Achilles who warned him of his proud ways. Achilles said that he himself wished that he had chosen a life of peace and the joy that comes with it. Telemachus is angered that Circe would suggest that this is what he must wait for: an apology from his father when they are both spirits.
Themes
Literary Devices
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Telemachus is about to go to bed when Circe asks why he came to Ithaca. After a moment, he tells her that Penelope suggested it, but he does not know her reasons. As he heads back to his room, Circe suddenly remembers how Penelope had asked about the spell over the island, wanting confirmation that it can keep out gods. Circe burns with rage, but she decides to wait for morning to speak with Penelope.
Themes
At breakfast the next day, Circe sends Telegonus and Telemachus to fix the sty. Once alone with Penelope, Circe demands to know which god Penelope is trying to outrun, exclaiming that, by coming to Aiaia, she puts Circe and Telegonus in danger as well. When Penelope doesn’t answer the question, Circe threatens to use her magic. At this, Penelope confirms Circe’s suspicions, but she adds that it is only just that she endangers Circe, since Circe is responsible for Odysseus’s death.
Themes
Circe reminds Penelope that, while on Aiaia, she is at Circe’s mercy, and that if she wishes to stay, she must tell Circe everything. So, Penelope does, starting with Odysseus’s return after the war. Unlike Telemachus, who believes that the war had ruined his father, Penelope says that it only revealed Odysseus’s true self: a schemer, a warrior, and a commander. Returning to domestic life was painful for him because he was away from his real passion—war. On top of this, Athena frequently visited Odysseus, urging him to seek out more adventures. Circe understands that Athena would never let her favorite man fade into obscurity.
Themes
Penelope fears that Athena aims to make Telemachus her newest hero. But Penelope is not ready to lose her son to the whims of the gods, especially not now when she needs so desperately to repair her relationship with him. It is for this reason that she seeks more time from Circe, who relents and promises that they can wait out the winter season on Aiaia.
