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My Bibliotheca (Library) is for my historical and academic pursuits. Here you will find the subjects I have researched as well as the articles I have acquired for my collection from other citizens. Please feel free to browse! Here you will also find a collection of posts that I have made to historical and academic boards. Presently my particular historical interest in Ancient Rome is their love of all things "Greek".
* Gods and Goddesses of Greek Mythology *
Kirke ( Circe )
Kirke (Circe) is the daughter of Helios (the Sun) and Perseis, which would make
her the grand-daughter of Okeanos (Ocean).
On her island... in her palace... Kirke waits for lost sailors to come wandering to
her door as supplicants. Normally, a traveler is treated as a special guest but
with Kirke, travelers are drugged and then served as dinner.
Odysseus and his desperate crew went ashore on the island of Aiaia hoping to
find food and water. Odysseus sent twenty-three men to explore the island but
only one returned. As the men walked from the beach they could hear sweet
singing from Kirke’s home in a forest glen. Wild lions and wolves (drugged by
Kirke) came, wagging their tails, to greet the strangers. They were charmed by
her beauty and drank the potions she offered as refreshment. As Kirke’s vile
drugs took effect, the once valiant men began to change shape and were soon
fully transformed into swine. Kirke herded them into pens and threw pig food on
the ground before them.
The sole survivor, Eurylochos, ran back to Odysseus and urged that they set sail
immediately. He told the story of the evil goddess and how they would all be
turned into swine if they dared to stay on that dangerous island (his warnings
unfortunately took on the air of cowardice... Odysseus almost killed him for it).
Odysseus was not afraid. He would not leave his men as swine and he would
not risk any of the other men in a fight with Kirke. Odysseus went to Kirke’s
palace alone.
Along the trail, Odysseus met Hermes (the messenger of the Immortals) in the
guise of a young man. Hermes told Odysseus that he could entrap Kirke and
free his companions if he obeyed the gods orders. Hermes reached down and
pulled a plant called ‘moly’ from the ground and explained that mere mortals
found it difficult to dig-up but he, as a god, could do all things. Odysseus took the
‘good medicine’ and went boldly into Kirke’s house. She welcomed him as
another victim and gave him her vile potions but the ‘good medicine’ gave
Odysseus protection. When Kirke thought the drugs had taken effect, she struck
Odysseus with her wand. The wand was supposed to complete the
transformation process but Odysseus drew his sword and sprang upon her. The
astonished Kirke surrendered instantly. She released the twenty-two pig-men
and ceremoniously anointed them with another one of her potions. The men
were restored to their original forms but they were taller and more handsome
than before they had been enswined.
To show her good faith, Kirke opened her doors to the dispirited sailors and gave
them every comfort she could offer. After the entire crew had been rested and
nourished, Kirke told Odysseus that his journey would now take him to the
House of Hades (lord of the Underworld). He must consult with the soul of the
seer, Teiresias the Theban, to find out how he may finally appease Poseidon
(lord of the Sea) and return to his home.
After seeing the soul of Teiresias the Theban, Odysseus returned to Aiaia. Kirke
bid him a final goodbye and told him how to safely sail past the island of the
Sirens, the six headed Skylla and the monster Kharybdis (Charybdis).
Kirke and Odysseus had two children, Agrios and Latinos.
"Suzanne Teng-Babylonians
Magnatune.com"
6 Articles
Wine in the Ancient World, Dec 24, 2005 - 16:28
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/
encyclopaedia_romana/wine/wine.html
From the Encyclopaedia Romana
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