Circe

• acts as a device to foretell future events
• sees smoke when he climbs a hill on Aeaea
• fires should mean civilisation and the offering of xenia and roast meat
• the first sign of the Cyclopes had been their fires, and wisps of smoke had been the first indication of the Laestrygonians
• men collapse in tears at the mention of smoke and sob at the thought of having to pursue the unknown source of the fire
• Circe's presence is signalled by the sounds of singing and the loom
• Circe's house is made of polished stone and is sinister
• the 'wild' animals that his men encounter are lions and wolves
• Homer tells us that the animals are victims of Circe's drugs
• know of her game before the men enter
• accept hospitality, ushered into pigsties and fed acorns
• striking parallels with P
• clever woman who uses trickery to manipulate her visitors
• she weaves, and by her singing and the innocent sound of the loom, she lures men into her house
• she feeds the men special mixture of cheese, barley and wine, carefully laced with her drug, is the banqueting hall
• during the banquet, the Suitors undergo P's challenge of the bow
• similarities in how they interact with Ody
• Circe welcomes him, and after much testing, she recognises him and they go to bed - P does the same
• once she realised that her guest is Ody, she plays the perfect hostess
• she provides him and his men with the customary bath, olive oil massage, new tunics and cloaks, and lavish amounts of meat and wine
• gives him a gift when Ody asks to leave - info about the next stage of his journey, and the means to achieve it
• tells him about his visit to Hades and meeting Tiresias - becomes much more goddess-like
• puts on a long silvery dress, a golden belt and veil
• by the time Ody reaches the beach, she has already slipped past him and tethered a ram and ewe to his ship he will need for the rituals
• when he returns, she gives advice about Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis and how to avoid disaster on Thrinacie
• Circe is introduced as a formidable goddess - only enhance his rep to have a goddess wanting to take him to bed
• Hermes gives him the perfect excuse for any love-making
• Odysseus says Hermes actually instructs Odysseus to accept Circe's favours - implies his duty to do so if he wants to free him men
• adds to Ody's heroic status
• supportive immortal who is on familiar terms with him
• disguise is part of her being
• she disguises her witch-like character in the form of a human woman
• disguise (as pigs) is what she offers to the crew