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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes.
Monsters
A variety of monsters populate the novel. Circe creates the visibly monstrous Scylla as a reflection of her own jealousy. In turn, the six-headed beast serves as both a symbol of the carelessness of immortals as well as of Circe’s guilt and desire to right the wrongs she’s done. The half-bull, man-eating Minotaur represents greed and the overwhelming desire for power as Pasiphaë and eventually Minos use the creature to serve their own selfish purposes. Other monsters that appear in stories told by characters in the novel include the cyclops Polyphemus and the Sirens. These are all creatures who show the fragility of mortals in both will and body.
Some monsters in the text take the form of gods or mortals. The gods, especially Helios, Pasiphaë, and Aeëtes, are ruthless and cruel. Likewise, the Olympian gods reportedly torture and kill mortals for their own gain and amusement. One example is Artemis killing Ariadne to exact some kind of petty revenge against Dionysus. Even Circe herself becomes a monster when she turns men into pigs when they come to Aiaia. Finally, men themselves are monstrous. The sailors who rape Circe and the warriors like Odysseus who commit atrocities all for fame and glory, are monstrous by their very nature.
Plants and Herbs
Plants are shown throughout the novel to have divine or magical properties. The power behind the flowers that begin Circe’s journey into witchcraft is in the godly blood which enriched their soil after battles and wars. Circe’s use of these flowers is suggestive of how she has no other use for the divine beings around her. With regards to the basic herbs that she experiments and protects herself with, Circe’s ability to respect the natural world and find ways to utilize its powers through good stewardship rather than brute force foreshadows her ultimate decision to live a human life where she feels most at home. Before she seeks mortality, however, she comes full circle by using herbs in combination with other ingredients to turn Scylla to stone. This shows the dual nature of the natural world as both a force for destruction as well as for redemption. When Circe shares her knowledge of herbs with Penelope, the idea of the redemptive power of the natural world is shown again as Penelope seeks a life that is gratifying for her as the new witch of Aiaia. In the end, Circe turns to herbs to take away her immortality as she looks forward to life in which she continues using plants to power her witchcraft. However, she wants to help others rather than use her power with herbs for personal gain.
The Sea
The sea is a means of redemption. Odysseus is able to regain favor with the gods and return home after spending years traveling by sea. Despite being a prison, the sea that surrounds Aiaia acts as a boundary Circe must stay within. This leads to her self-discovery and a reclaiming of her identity. Circe also goes to the bottom of the sea to obtain the poisonous tail of Trygon so she can protect Telegonus from danger and recover her son’s trust. In the end, Circe finds redemption by traveling to Scylla’s strait at sea and puts her guilt to rest at last when she turns Scylla to stone.
The sea also serves as a means of escape. The beach where Circe and Aeëtes spend time offers the siblings a respite from Helios’s oppressive palace. Meanwhile, Circe later finds hope for love for the first time on the fisherman Glaucos’s boat. Once isolated on Aiaia, she later fantasizes about being able to travel by sea to other lands and therefore escape her exile. Meanwhile, minor characters Medea and Jason use the sea as both a vehicle for escape as well as a tool for slowing their pursuers. In the end, the sea provides Circe with a means of escape from her old life in her hopes of becoming mortal and adventuring with Telemachus by sea to the new lands she’s dreamed of.
