Circe

by

Madeline Miller

Circe: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Circe is brought to her room, which is near the servants’ wing of the palace. The next day, Daedalus visits her and brings her down to the underground corridors of the palace. As they walk, he tells her that the monster is named the Minotaur, which Circe recognizes as the king’s attempt to associate himself with the glory that monsters inspire.
Like Pasiphaë, Minos uses the monster as an opportunity to gain fame for himself. He names the beast after himself so that people will associate the fear that the beast generates with Minos himself. Significantly, Minos, and not Pasiphaë, names the monster. Even though she is the one who created the beast, Minos likely wants to hide the fact that his wife has more power than he does.
Themes
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Daedalus and Circe arrive at the cage that Daedalus has built. He acknowledges that it will not hold forever—the Minotaur is already ferociously strong—but it buys him time to plan the next step. Circe approaches the monster in its cage, which, to Circe’s horror, is already littered with human bones. As it opens its mouth, Circe dumps her potion down its throat and speaks the spell. Immediately, the creature relaxes, already quieted. Watching it plod into its new cage, Circe knows that this monster, Pasiphaë’s “ambition made flesh,” will only know a life of hate and gore.
By making the Minotaur, Pasiphaë is not only responsible for all the deaths that the monster will cause, but also the miserable existence that the beast will live. In this way, Pasiphaë’s grab for power leaves behind a trail of abuse.
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As Daedalus and Circe climb upstairs to the main halls, she tells him that she will not attend the evening feast and that she looks forward to returning to her island. Daedalus invites her to dine with him, as he hopes to leave the dinner early. She agrees and meets him in his quarters that night. While there, Daedalus introduces his son Icarus to her. Seeing Daedalus’s tenderness with the child, Circe knows that Pasiphaë must have immediately seen Daedalus’s love for him.
In a society where everyone is seeking to gain power for themselves, anything, including love, can be a weakness that others exploit. Pasiphaë does just this—she knows that Daedalus loves his son so much that he will do anything to keep the boy safe. By keeping Icarus imprisoned in the castle, she effectively keeps Daedalus under her control. He will obey her every order to ensure his son’s safety.
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Circe enjoys the ease of her conversation with Daedalus. They talk of the similarities between their arts and lifestyle, and he expresses sympathy for the cruelty she suffers at Pasiphaë’s hands. He then tells her that he plans to design a maze in the cellars of the palace for the Minotaur and jokes that he is sure Minos will think of a name that associates him with it.
Circe and Daedalus bond over their crafts. Circe is able to relate to Daedalus because she knows witchcraft and is therefore also conscious of the fulfillment that developing a talent brings. It is likely that their connection would not be as strong had she not developed a skill through hard work, something that she associates with mortals. In this way, their connection stems from mortal qualities.
Themes
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After Daedalus gives Icarus a goodnight kiss, Circe comments that the boy is very happy. Daedalus agrees, but he bitterly adds that it won’t last: “A golden cage is still a cage.” As Circe asks Daedalus where he dreams to go, she gazes into his face, comforted by his sturdiness and resolve. She wants to invite him to Aiaia but knows that the island holds nothing for him.
Even though Daedalus and Icarus live in a castle and have some luxuries, they are still Pasiphaë’s captives. Gold is associated with power throughout the story, and its use here points out that, while the palace’s comforts may make it appear that Daedalus has some power, any semblance of control he feels is false. Pasiphaë can take it all away whenever she chooses. In this way, the “gold” of the cage—and the power in the situation—belongs to Pasiphaë, the owner of the cage, and not Daedalus, the imprisoned.
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Circe returns to her room, mulling over her conversation with Daedalus. She is enraged on his behalf that Pasiphaë and Minos keep him imprisoned for their own glory. She recalls the love in Daedalus’s eyes when he looked at Icarus and knows that Pasiphaë instantly saw this as a way to keep him under her control.
Pasiphaë and Minos want to keep Daedalus under their control so that they can profit off the things he creates. In their quest to accumulate more power, they are ruining not just Daedalus’s life, but Icarus’s too.
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Circe analyzes her time in Crete and realizes just how much the Minotaur is a victory for Pasiphaë: Minos’s humiliation, the subjugating terror of the Cretans, Daedalus’s guilt and his obligation to help, and even Circe’s obedience. Her fury mounting, Circe storms into Pasiphaë’s bedroom and demands to know why she brought her to Crete.
Not only has Pasiphaë created a violent monster, but she is using it to create even more devastation than it would on its own. She will use it to keep Minos and her kingdom in fear of her power and will leverage Daedalus’s guilt to pressure him into obedience. In this way, Circe and Pasiphaë are very different in their actions regarding the monsters that they created. Although Circe also made a monster (Scylla) for her own gain, she regrets her action and wants to undo it to prevent further harm.
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Pasiphaë dodges Circe’s question, enraging her even more. Circe exclaims that she deserves to know, after all her assistance with containing the Minotaur. After a pause, Pasiphaë tells Circe that she should know by now that obedience gets one nothing. She cites Circe’s childhood, how fawning over Helios and cringing at his feet only encouraged him to abuse her more. Morality means nothing and being a god’s favorite pretty mistress means nothing; “The only thing that makes them listen is power.”
In this passage, Pasiphaë makes the point that, in a society where getting power is the top priority, morals are meaningless because “The only thing that makes [a god] listen is power.” Because a person must use others or be abused, people are quick to exploit others’ kindness. Pasiphaë picked up on this behavior in her father’s halls, demonstrating how a person’s family affects their development.
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Pasiphaë goes on to say that, while everyone else was shocked that Circe ended up with powers, Pasiphaë wasn’t. She knew that Circe, like her, hated the family, and this spiteful resilience is the source of their power. Circe is stunned to hear that her sister, who in Circe’s mind represents their family’s cruelty, hates them too. But she knows that what Pasiphaë says is true: “nymphs [are] allowed to work only through the power of others.”
Circe is surprised that Pasiphaë hates their family, given that she’s turned out to be exactly like them. At the same time, Circe’s acknowledgment that nymphs can only get power through others explains, in part, why Pasiphaë turned out so cruel. As a woman, Pasiphaë has very little power and is therefore susceptible to abuse. In order to survive, Pasiphaë feels like she has no choice but to play by the rules set by her family and abuse people before they can abuse her.
Themes
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Quotes
Reeling from the revelation, Circe asks why Pasiphaë hadn’t been friends with her and Aeëtes. Pasiphaë scoffs, telling Circe that Aeëtes only entertained her because of her ready praise. Circe asks about Perses, and Pasiphaë snaps that Circe is ignorant of all the things Pasiphaë had to do to keep his favor. When she was married off to Minos, Pasiphaë knew that she could handle him and has done so.
Pasiphaë goes on to explain how her interpersonal relationships are competitions for power. She reveals that her “friendship” with Perses was loveless, which suggests that the abuse she suffered at his hands made her even more unwilling to form attachments—she entered into her marriage with Minos seeking ways to control him. In this way, the abuse women suffer leads to their isolation.
Themes
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Pasiphaë chose Circe, she says, because Circe is like Pasiphaë and can endure pain. Circe is horrified at this claim and rejects it, saying that she is not like Pasiphaë. Circe catches an expression of surprise on her sister’s face before she insults Circe afresh. She calls her blind, ignorant of all that she (Pasiphaë) has had to do to maintain power and independence from Minos, who wants a breeder, not a queen. When Circe suggests that Helios would protect Pasiphaë from extreme abuse at Minos’s hands, Pasiphaë sneers, saying that Helios cares about his alliance with Zeus more than his children, which is why Circe is in exile. Zeus is afraid of witchcraft and “wanted a sacrifice,” which Helios happily provided. Pasiphaë then orders Circe to get out of her room.
Circe doesn’t want to be like her sister, who represents their family’s cruelty. This decision, along with her empathy and desire to undo the violence she caused by creating Scylla, sets her apart from her family. Pasiphaë doesn’t take this rejection kindly, likely because she believes that Circe doesn’t understand the abuse that she (Pasiphaë) has suffered. She unleashes her rage on Circe, pushing her away, which again shows how being abused and underestimated can lead women to self-isolate. Minos in particular makes Pasiphaë feel oppressed and limited in her role as a woman, as he only wants her to be a mother rather than a ruler in her own right. As a man in a misogynist society, he likely sees women as inferior; when a woman does have power, he sees it as a threat to his own. Similarly, Pasiphaë sneers at Circe’s suggestion that Helios would protect her if need be, because Pasiphaë knows that their father cares only for his own power.
Themes
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Circe numbly returns to her quarters, where she is surprised by Daedalus waiting outside her door. At first surprised by his boldness, she realizes that exceptional people must be daring. She welcomes him into her room, and they have sex.
Circe recognizes that creative people must be courageous, as the act of creating something new requires experimentation with the unknown. Daedalus is a famous inventor, so it is not surprising that he is bold enough to ask a goddess to become his lover. Because Circe associates creativity with mortals, this passage links mortality to courage.
Themes
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As Circe and Daedalus lie together afterward, Circe realizes that she can feel the Minotaur shaking the palace foundations. After Circe tells Daedalus that the monster will eat about 15 people a month during harvest, Daedalus tells her that he can feel the heavy responsibility for the deaths. She traces the scars on his hands as he speaks. He asks how she handles her guilt over Scylla. Thinking of Prometheus, Circe repeats the Titan’s words: “We bear it as best we can.”
Circe and Daedalus form a genuine connection based on their shared guilt—Daedalus for his participation in creating the Minotaur, and Circe for making Scylla. This is Circe’s first time being truly open with a lover—Hermes would use her weaknesses against her, and her divinity frightened Glaucos. Because these men didn’t respect her, she never felt close with them. With Daedalus, however, she can be honest because he respects her and even understands her feelings of regret. In this way, their empathy for each other unites them. Furthermore, Daedalus’s scars are a reminder of both his mortality and the fact that a person’s failures, and their growth from them, is what makes them unique. The Minotaur will be like an emotional scar for him, in the same way that Scylla is for Circe.
Themes
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For the next few days, Circe enjoys her nights with Daedalus and avoids Pasiphaë during the day. Finally, Minos allows her to leave. When she boards the ship, Daedalus sees her off and gives her two crates, which he says hold a gift he created. Even though Circe knew that they would be parted, she is nonetheless saddened as the ship pulls away. When Crete is out of site, she opens the crates, which contains cloth and a beautiful loom.
Minos’s making Circe wait to leave Crete is a way for him to show off his power—he is making it clear that she is at his disposal. Daedalus and Circe continue to deepen their bond, even though Circe knows that the relationship will have to come to an end when she goes back into exile. Because the gods fear an unmarried and thus unsupervised woman having power, they isolate Circe physically. This physical isolation leads to her emotional isolation, as she is unable to form lasting, meaningful relationships with people.
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Years later, Circe hears of Daedalus’s escape. The craftsman made wings for himself and Icarus to fly away from Crete to Africa. But Icarus flew too close to the sun, melting the wax that held the wings together, and he fell to the earth and died. When Circe hears the tale from Hermes, she imagines Daedalus flying relentlessly forward, though crippled with grief. He dies soon after, but Circe never forgets him.
Pasiphaë’s selfish imprisonment of Daedalus and Icarus meant that Icarus was never able to experience freedom. In this way, Icarus is the collateral damage in Pasiphaë’s quest to accumulate and maintain power.
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