In Homer’s Odyssey the question ‘what distinguishes god and man in the eyes of the Greeks?’ comes up much more than ‘what distinguishes man and woman?’, and yet, the latter yields extraordinary insight into the former. Homer describes the gods as immortal, and usually beautiful and superhuman, but otherwise quite variable in form. They partake in the usual human proclivities and experience pleasure, success, and pain, if on a more extreme level. But the lines between humans and gods are never so blurred as in the house of Circe; Odysseus is given divine help from Hermes, whereas Circe is attributed several human characteristics. Here also, two power dynamics come into conflict – Odysseus’ inferiority to Circe in divine status, and Circe’s perceived inferiority to him in gender. What, then, will shape events – the weakness of femininity or the weakness of mortality? Circe and Odysseus’ relationship demonstrates a blurring of the lines between god and mortal, but a sharpening of the distinction between man and woman, showing that with the conflation of divine and mortal masculinity, divine femininity can be subordinated to mortal masculinity. This demonstrates that the relationships between mortals and immortals serve to uphold Greek social roles and values.

On Aeaea, the grey area distinguishing mortals from immortals becomes ambiguous, and the result is a heightened awareness of Odysseus’ power as a masculine figure through his use of the divine as a weapon to prevent Circe from defying gender norms. Circe is attributed mortal, feminine characteristics that contrast with characterization of her divine qualities and lower her almost to Odysseus’ mortal stance. She is described, "…Circe, a dread goddess with richly coiled hair / And a human voice." (Odyssey, X 152-153).[1] Whereas some mortals like poets have "a voice like a god’s" (Odyssey, IX 4), Circe is leveled in a startling way to mortal women, diminishing her divine authority. Further, Odysseus describes her home: "What I saw was smoke / Rising up from Circe’s house." (Odyssey, X 165-166). Smoke symbolizes warmth and food (not ambrosia), signifying some aspect of human need, and the feminine weakness of home-keeping and passivity. Conversely, Odysseus is elevated – with Hermes’ help – to godlike superiority over her, indicating a reversal of roles that support the gender hierarchy. To protect Odysseus from Circe’s potion, Hermes offers Odysseus the following: "Take this herb with you when you go to Circe, / And it will protect you from her deadly tricks." (Odyssey X, 309-310). Odysseus is bestowed divine immunity that puts him in a power position for their interaction. One might counter that Hermes is divine, therefore Odysseus is just an extension of the power of male divinity on female divinity. This is true, and divine masculinity is also praised, but the reader should note that Circe does not know that he has divine influence. She later states: "I am amazed that you drank this potion / And are not bewitched. No other man / Has ever resisted this drug…" (Odyssey X, 347-350). In her eyes, the only aspect elevating is his masculinity; thus, for the sake of analyzing their relationship, gender becomes the leading dynamic.

Circe challenges the Greek gender roles designated by the οἶκος (household); Odysseus shows anxiety with this reassignment of gender roles and performs a masculine mission to ‘right’ the confused gender dynamic. The Ancient Greek word οἶκος is usually used to designate the living place of a married couple and their servants, particularly with reference to the working and living space of a woman fulfilling the traditional role of directing the household staff and weaving. However, Circe lacks the masculine power figure that keeps the feminine side of the οἶκος in check, and fulfils both passive and active roles herself. Perhaps for this reason, her home is not described as an οἶκος but a δώματα connecting to δῶμᾰ which means merely a house or hall (Odyssey X 210). Circe is estranged from a very critical Greek idea of family and order, and Odysseus ‘corrects’ this challenged hierarchy by asserting dominance. One might ask, ‘Is it not just Hermes who is righting the gender dichotomy, albeit indirectly?’ To some extent, yes, but in-as-much as Hermes gives divine power to Odysseus, Odysseus uses that power as a tool to progress his own agenda of preventing Circe’s ascendancy as a strong female figure. Both divine and mortal forces uphold the gender dichotomy, and Odysseus acts out divine and mortal desire to subdue Circe’s feminine rebellion.

Sexual dominance proves the final test of masculinity, in which Circe’s sexual liberation symbolized by her wand is subordinated to Odysseus’ control. Circe’s symbol of defense and of her divine strength is her wand: "…she struck them [Odysseus’ men] / With her wand and herded them into the sties outside." (Odyssey X, 255-256). A masculine symbol of power, the wand is a phallic image that misplaces masculine power in the hands of a female goddess. Odysseus, however, ‘corrects’ this dynamic by exercising sexual dominance over her. Acting on Hermes’ advice, he does the following: "I drew the sharp sword that hung by my thigh / And lunged at Circe as if I meant to kill her." (Odyssey, X 342-343). The sword also serves as a phallic symbol, but stronger since it is in the correct (masculine) hands; in this case, serves to force upon Circe a submissive role. Solidifying her submission, Circe grabs onto Odysseus’ knees, a gesture of supplication and reversal of divine-mortal roles and affirmation of gender roles. One might argue that Circe’s possession of agency to begin with demonstrates that Circe is the epitome of a rejection of gender roles. However true this may be, Circe’s agency seems to act merely as a means to an end: her strength serves only to heighten Odysseus’ masculine power when he is able to subdue her.

This brings us to the ultimate power clash between Odysseus and Circe, the wiles of a male mortal versus the wiles of a female goddess, begging the question: will femininity be subordinated to masculinity, or mortality to divinity? Circe is portrayed as an evil temptress, merely another challenge to be overcome by Odysseus. In the end, indeed, we see that it is only through subordinating herself to him that she redeems herself by supporting his quest. But there is another complexity of language that is uncovered: while Odysseus is described as having μῆτις (cunning intelligence), Circe is described as having ὀλοφώια δήνεα (deadly wiles).[2] This difference demonstrates the Greek morality scale that, despite Circe’s divinity, places her feminine wiles as naturally more evil than Odysseus’ masculine tricks. One might posit that ‘deadly wiles’ doesn’t necessarily imply a feminine aspect; this may have been just another plot device to present another challenge to Odysseus. Be that as it may, in the context of earlier appearances of seductive female forces (Calypso, Sirens), repetition implies that Circe’s negative portrayal is caught up in an evil female seductress archetype. Unfortunately for Circe, whatever motives of self-preservation justified her actions, they, as well as her divinity, are sacrificed to the Greeks’ gender norms.

Homer conflates the divine and mortal masculine in order to uphold gender roles; through elevation of masculine strength and feminine weakness, gendered diction, and sexual dominance, Homer demonstrates a loyalty to gender roles that allows feminine weakness rather than mortal weakness to shape events. In the isolated interaction of Odysseus and Circe as perceived by Circe, divinity is subordinated to mortality. In the broader scope of the epic, taking into account Hermes’ role, divine masculinity defends the mortal masculine agenda. Thus, we reach the solidarity of mortal man and immortals with regards to upkeeping the gender hierarchy. Like many other characters, Circe ends up furthering Odysseus’ plans – after sexually conquering her, he has no scruples in accepting her generosity. In some sense, Circe’s fate to be subordinated to Odysseus seems inevitable in the context of Greek gender roles. If this challenge was not overcome by Odysseus, if he did not find ways to subordinate her sexually to his masculine agenda, he would have failed to uphold the moral code as well as the gender hierarchy and concept of ‘order’ to the ancient Greeks.

Glossary

οἶκος – oikos. Household. Typically associated with the regular gender hierarchy.

δώματα – domata. Used to describe Circe’s living place, from δῶμᾰ which means house/hall.

μῆτις – mêtis. Used to describe Odysseus’ attributes, similar to Athena. Cunning intelligence.

ὀλοφώια δήνεα – olofoia dinea. Used to describe Circe. Deadly wiles, an interesting counterpart to the much more noble μῆτις used to describe Odysseus.

Bibliography

Homer. Odyssey: Books 1-12. Translated by A. T. Murray. Edited by George E. Dimock. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998. Used for citations of Ancient Greek quotations.

Homer. Odyssey. Translated by Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2000. Used for citations of translated quotations.

Notes and References

[1] Please not that references for Ancient Greek words in the original tongue refer to the Loeb Classical Library edition, while quotes in English (as in this quote) refer to the translation by Stanley Lombardo.

[2] See X line 194 for μῆτις, X line 289 for ὀλοφώια δήνεα.