Week 4 Story: Circe's Good Deeds
Odysseus and his men arrived at Circe's island, drunk off of stolen sweet wine and the happiness of escaping Polyphemus, the monstrous Cyclops they had just encountered. "Three cheers for blinding the wretched beast!" roared Odysseus, with his men yelling wildly in response. They made their way up the path, reaching Circe's palace after a few minutes.
Circe changing the companions of Ulysses into beasts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (source: Wikimedia).
When they approached the front door, preparing to knock, it swung open of its own accord, and an enticing scent of flowers, food, and drink wafted out to them. All except Eurylochus rushed in, eager to gorge themselves further on others' delicacies. The men faltered and fell to the floor when they saw Circe, a beautiful goddess whose power radiated from her body. Immediately as they entered the room, Circe could sense every atrocious crime each man had committed and their sense of remorse, if they had any at all. She grew angry after gaining this knowledge, for the men had inflicted much pain without a second thought, but she controlled her emotions, plotting her revenge as she had done with so many selfish humans before.
Circe smiled kindly, waving her hand to make mountains of food and drink appear; the tables were instantly laden with every kind of fruit imaginable alongside cheese, bread, olives, and plenty of meat. Wine and mead, too, were provided, filling seemingly bottomless clay jugs. Odysseus and his men ate and drank their fill while Eurylochus hid outside, watching the proceedings through a window and sensing a trap.
Circe observed them, her anger growing as they stuffed themselves like animals. When all were finished, the goddess stood and announced, "While you men ate like pigs, I shall not turn you into them as I used to do with careless men that happened upon my realm. Instead, you will be transformed into humans that actually care about others, humans that perform good deeds instead of pillaging the homes of others, and destroying livelihoods. You shall go forth from this place and treat people with kindness from now on. And you, Eurylochus, may come out of the shadows and approach me, for I know you alone have felt remorse for your comrades' actions and are filled with sensibility and compassion. Take these men back to your homeland and ensure that they lead wholesome lives forevermore."
Eurylochus, bowing his head, lead the men to their ships and back home, pleased with Circe's understanding of his character and determined to fulfill her wishes for the rest of his life.
Author's Note: I adapted this from Homer's Odyssey. I wanted to make the people in the story do something good because much of what is described in the epic is violent.
Bibliography: Homer's The Odyssey, from a prose translation by Tony Kline
Hey Katie, I really enjoyed your take on this part of Odysseys' adventures; also your writing was detailed, but still to the point. While I was reading, though, I think it would be cool to learn more about Circe, possibly a little background into her powers/how she was able to sense their violent deeds. Likewise, maybe a little blurb on why Eurylochus initially stopped and didn't enter her house. Even without these your story is clear and precise, but I thought I'd give some suggestions if you're looking for them! Anyway, I hope to read more of your writing soon!
ReplyDeleteHi Katie! My mind always wanders to Percy Jackson when I read stories like this. You did a great job utilizing strong language and transition words. Every piece of dialogue really stood out, because you introduced it with words such as "roared" and "announced." Those are much better than "said" or "stated," and that is definitely something I need to work on as a writer. I wonder what follows ... I wish you could have written more!! I was thoroughly engaged as I was reading, and it left me wondering about what comes next. It would be interesting to explore what would happen if Eurylochus had initially followed the other men into Circe's lair. I feel like that would obviously have a major effect on the story, assuming he reacts the same way as the others did. It is lucky that he did wait outside and sensed the trap that Circe was attempting to spring.
ReplyDeleteHey there Katie,
ReplyDeleteI have quite enjoyed your retelling of this story. I read the Odyssey as my week 4 story and was amazed at how much violence was written and done by these men in the boats alone. I wonder what it would have been like if Circe turned all of them into pigs except for Eurylochus, who was hiding. Would it just be him by himself trying to free them all. Would he gather up the pigs and take them home like that or would he try to free them from Circe's spell? I think that one thing that would help your story read smoother is if you left aligned. It may be just me, but the un-alignment on the side made me get lost a little and I found myself rereading the same sentence over. Overall, nicely written with great descriptive words. I was pleasantly surprised by your nonviolent spin on Circe.