Christopher Nolan's blockbuster film *The Odyssey*, starring Matt Damon as Homer's wandering hero, has drawn particular acclaim for its depiction of Circe, played by Samantha Morton, with many singling her out as the film's standout character. That renewed interest, the article argues, makes it a good moment to revisit Madeline Miller's 2018 novel *Circe*, which offers a far deeper and more sympathetic take on the figure than her traditional portrayal as a vengeful, seductive witch in Greek mythology.

Miller, best known for her 2011 novel *The Song of Achilles*, tells *Circe*'s story in the first person, following the nymph across millennia from her birth as daughter of the Titan Helios and the Oceanid Perse. Rather than confining itself to the events of *The Odyssey*, the 383-page book weaves in numerous other myths and figures, including Jason and Medea, Daedalus and the Minotaur, and Hermes, reframing Circe as an introspective, empathetic and resourceful character rather than a one-dimensional antagonist, in a feminist reinterpretation that avoids feeling anachronistic.