Madeline Miller and Circe Quotes - Fable Reading Guide
Apr 21 2023
Madeline Miller’s books are not new, but their recent popularity has proved that they are timeless stories many people enjoy, and “Circe” is no exception. “Circe” is one of the most popular book-clubbed and reviewed books on Fable. It is a fresh retelling of a classic myth that is bold and intimate in that it paints a famous female figure in her heroic light.
Read Circe in the Free Fantasy & Frens Book Club
What is Circe About?
With “Circe,” Madeline Miller reimagined the myth of the unloved daughter of a famous god who went on to reinvent witchcraft.“Circe” reimagines the story of one of the most infamous women of Greek mythology. Circe is the daughter of the Titan sun god Helios and an ocean nymph. Born as a mystery to even her parents, she is unloved and left to her own devices. She practices witchcraft and becomes skilled in potions, herbs, and transformational arts. Threatened by her abilities, Circe is then exiled by her father to a remote island as punishment for her use of sorcery. There, she encounters many people, one of whom is the famed Odysseus.Why is Circe so popular?
There are many different reasons why “Circe” is so beloved. Still, the main favorite qualities that recur in reviews seem to be that it gives a voice to women in Greek mythology, who were so often brushed over, and that it features a morally gray heroine. Many epic stories are traditionally male-centered, so putting a woman and showing every part of her, whether it’s good, bad, glorious, or damning, is exciting for many people.Unforgettable quotes from “Circe”
“When I was born, the word for what I was did not exist.”
“A golden cage is still a cage.”
“You cannot know how frightened gods are of pain. There is nothing more foreign to them, and so nothing they ache more deeply to see.”
“He was another knife I could feel it. A different sort, but a knife still. I did not care. I thought: give me the blade. Some things are worth spilling blood for.”
“How many of us would be granted pardon if our true hearts were known?”
“But there was no wound she could give me that I had not already given myself.”
“The grudges of gods are as deathless as their flesh.”
“Fear of failure was the worst thing for any spell.”
“But in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me.”
“He showed me his scars, and in return he let me pretend that I had none.”
“Humbling women seems to me a chief pastime of poets. As if there can be no story unless we crawl and weep.”
“It is a common saying that women are delicate creatures, flowers, eggs, anything that may be crushed in a moment's carelessness. If I had ever believed it, I no longer did.”
“I would say, some people are like constellations that only touch the earth for a season.”
“You threw me to the crows, but it turns out I prefer them to you.”
“But perhaps no parent can truly see their child. When we look we see only the mirror of our own faults.”
“You can teach a viper to eat from your hands, but you cannot take away how much it likes to bite.”
“The truth is, men make terrible pigs.”
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