CIRCE
Real Name:
Circe
Occupation:
Goddess of magic and sorcery
Legal Status:
Citizen of Olympus
Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of Circe’s existence except
as a figure of mythological origin.
Other Aliases:
None known
Place of Birth:
Crete (now part of modern Greece)
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives:
Helios (father), Perseis (mother), Eos, Selene (aunts), Hyperion, Oceanus,
(grandfathers), Theia, Tethys (grandmothers), Aeetes, Aloeus (brothers,
deceased), Pasiphae (sister, deceased), Minos (brother-in-law, deceased), Eidyia
(sister-in-law, possibly deceased), Deucalion, Androgeus, Catreus, Absyrtus,
(nephews, deceased), Asterius (nephew, alias The Minotaur, deceased), Ariadne,
Medea, Chalciope (nieces, deceased), Telegonus (son, deceased,), Italus
(grandson, deceased)
Group Affiliations:
ally of the Olympian Gods Base of Operations:
Aeaea (modern Cape Circeo near Rome, Italy) First Appearance:
The Odyssey (Eighth Century BC) History: Circe is the daughter of Helios, the god of the sun, and Perseis,
daughter of the Titan, Oceanus. Her brother, Aeetes, became founder and king of
the land known as Colchis, but Helios promised her the island of Aeaea close to
the boundaries of ancient Latium. Arriving there in her father’s chariot, she
surrounded herself with loyal subjects, mostly women, and practiced mystical
powers taught to her by Helios and eventually began to rival him in mystical
potential. She also became known for being a seductress for seducing and vamping
shipwrecked sailors and would-be conquerors to the region and then transforming
them into animals when she tired of them. Most of these transformed animals roamed
the island freely trying to warn others who arrived. One of her first such paramours
was Picus, a prince from Latium, but he refused her in order to be faithful to his
true love and was transformed into a woodpecker. Height:
5’7” Weight:
340 lbs. Eyes:
Blue Hair:
Black Strength Level:
Circe possesses superhuman strength equal to a Olympian goddess and can lift
(press) 25 tons under optimal conditions, although she rarely exhibits great
feats of strength. Known Superhuman Powers:
Circe
possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Olympian gods. Like all
Olympians, she is immortal: she has not aged since reaching adulthood and cannot
die by any conventional means. She is immune to all Earthly diseases and is
resistant to conventional injury. If she were somehow wounded, her godly life
force would enable her to recover with superhuman speed. It would take an injury
of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of her bodily molecules to
cause Circe a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for a god of equal
power, such as Zeus, Poseidon and Apollo or for a number of Olympian gods
working together to revive her. Circe also possesses superhuman strength and her
Olympian metabolism provides her with far greater than human endurance in all
physical activities. (Olympian flesh and bone is about three times as dense as
similar human tissue, contributing to the Olympians' superhuman strength and
weight.) Circe’s primary powers were her abilities to
tap and manipulate mystical forces of the universe. Capable of tapping even
cosmic energies, she could teleport between dimensions such as from Earth to
Olympus, erect physical shields and project her image, voice, and energy bolts over long distances. She
can create potions to transform individuals or for granting power comparable to
the gods. Her most popular ability is her power to alter the forms of mortal but
not immortal beings. With a gesture, she can transform men into animals, usually
one comparable to the attitude, appearance or personality of her victims. Some
of her victims have become pigs, monkeys, large cats, boars and even birds and
have retained their ability to think and sometimes even speak. In these forms,
they are subjective to Circe and often in a tranquilized state unable to
retaliate. With another gesture, Circe can restore her victims to normal. Circe also seems to have limited clairvoyant potential, mostly to
be able to detect guests to her island and the presence of other immortals in
her company. She was able to detect Hermes in an invisible state when he visited
her. Limitations:
It has been suggested that the herb moly can be used as a deterrent against
Circe’s spells Base of Operations:
Circe’s home for several years was the island known as Aeaea where she
maintained a villa on high ground. Over several years, though, the tectonic
plates have changed and Aeaea is no longer an island but a cape off the shore
near Rome. In modern years, it has been revealed through conversations between
the Olympian gods that she has relocated her villa to another unknown remote
location. Clarifications: Circe is probably not
to be confused with: Circe,
sorceress, foe of Wonder Woman, @ Wonder Woman I #305 Sersi,
Member of the Eternal race, @ Strange Tales I #109
When the sea-god Glaucus came to Circe for a love potion to get the sea-goddess,
Scylla, to marry him, Circe attempted to woo him for herself. Glaucus refused her,
but Circe could not use her powers against him because he was under Poseidon’s
protection. She instead gave Glaucus a phony love-potion that transformed Scylla
into a hideous beast. Having long refused the advances of mortals and immortals,
Circe rendered it possible that Scylla would ever be advanced by anyone else ever
again.
Circe was sometimes willingly approached by ambassadors from other countries
seeking help for predicaments and misfortunes in their domains. Her sister,
Pasiphae, visited her asking for help and advice for her son, Asterius, who was
becoming less human as he grew into manhood. Circe informed her that Asterius was
not the son of her husband, but the spawn of the Bull of Poseidon as a curse on
Minos by Poseidon and she was unable to get involved. Asterius eventually grew up
to be the Minotaur. Circe’s niece, Medea, daughter of Aeetes, also approached her
with the help of the Argonauts to be purified for the murder of Absyrtus, her brother.
Circe treated Jason and the Argonauts very hospitably at first and absolved Medea of
her sins, but upon learning of the details of the murder, she quickly sent them on
their way.
Among Circe’s favorite paramours was Odysseus, the King of Ithaca as he wandered home
after the Trojan War. Odysseus had become shipwrecked on her island while trying to
return home and his men behaved badly upon meeting Circe and she transformed them into
animals. Protected by Hermes, Odysseus confronted Circe by sword point and impressed her
enough that she restored his men to him and managed to keep him and his men as her guests
for more than a year. Although she had fallen in love with Odysseus, she realized she
could no keep him forever and sent him on his way. To help return him to Ithaca, she told
him to seek out the spirit of the seer Teiresias in the underworld to help him along his
way.
Circe eventually conceived Odysseus a son named Telegonus, and when he reached adulthood,
she gave him permission to seek out his father. Unfortunately, in Ithaca, Odysseus mistook
Telegonus as an invader and was slain as a result. Telegonus carried Odysseus back to Aeaea
for burial. Odysseus’s wife and son, Penelope and Telemachus were attendance. Remorseful over
the turn of events, Circe restored Penelope’s youth. According to most accounts, she became
a lover of Telegonus, and Telemachus eventually became Circe’s lover as well.
Circe’s later activities are unknown, but at least two known individuals have taken credit
for her activities. Sersi, a member of the Eternal race has taken the most credit, but this
seems to be based on the fact that several of the Eternals have posed as representatives of
the Olympian gods over the years. The other is a mortal sorceress calling herself Circe, but
her motivations seem to be based on the fact that she takes inexplicably much of
her power from the underworld goddess, Hecate, and her intense enmity with the
Olympian gods and their protégé, the costumed Amazon known as Wonder Woman.
Whether one or neither of these individuals is the true Circe known from
mythology remains unrevealed.
