Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Madeline Miller's Circe. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.
Circe: Introduction
Circe: Plot Summary
Circe: Detailed Summary & Analysis
Circe: Themes
Circe: Quotes
Circe: Characters
Circe: Symbols
Circe: Theme Wheel
Brief Biography of Madeline Miller
Historical Context of Circe
Other Books Related to Circe
- Full Title: Circe
- When Written: Around 2012 to 2018
- When Published: April 2018
- Literary Period: Contemporary
- Genre: Fantasy, Literary Fiction
- Setting: Ancient Greece
- Climax: When Circe encounters monstrous Scylla for the second time and succeeds in turning her to stone
- Antagonist: almost every god and Titan (Helios, Zeus, and Athena to name a few), Scylla, and misogyny
- Point of View: First person
Extra Credit for Circe
Story for the Silver Screen. Shortly after publication in 2018, Miller’s Circe became a number one New York Times Bestseller and went on to win several awards, including Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fantasy of 2018. In 2019, HBO Max announced that they will be making an eight-episode miniseries adaptation of the book.
Enchanting Etymology. In Circe, the herbs of power that Circe uses for her witchcraft are called pharmaka, and the term for someone who wields these magical powers is pharmakis, now translated to “sorcerer” and “poisoner.” These Greek words may look familiar—they are roots for the modern-day words “pharmacy” and “pharmacist.”