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How Does Madeleine Miller Use Diction In Circe

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Madeleine Miller’s Circe is a novel about a nymph who is the daughter of Helios, the Titan god of the sun. Circe has the powers of a witch, pharmakis, and for using them on another nymph she is exiled to an island called Aiaia. As her exile in Aiaia progresses, she encounters many characters, like Odysseus, with whom she has a son, Telegonus. Circe raises her son in an overprotective manner which eventually leads to Telegonus longing to leave the island to meet his father and brother. When Telegonus returns from his trip, he arrives with grave news for Circe: he accidentally killed Odysseus with the very weapon Circe gave him. In Circe, Madeleine Miller uses stylistic devices such as diction and syntax to express Circe’s feeling of having failed in raising her son, as he is oblivious to the dangers of the world around him, causing his desire to leave Aiaia for adventure. …show more content…

As Circe reflects upon raising Telegonus, she says “I should have forced him to go with me to pick those plants that saved his life. I should have made him stand over the stove while I spoke words of power. He should understand all I had carried in silence, all that I had done for his safekeeping” (Miller 272). Miller repeats explicitly the word “should” near the beginning of each sentence to emphasize Circe looking back in regret that she didn’t show Telegonus the harsh reality of his protected life. The use of repetition shows how deeply Circe considers that Telegonus wouldn’t have wanted to leave Aiaia if he knew the history and truths of his

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“Ithaca / being most lofty in that coastal sea, / and northwest, while the rest lie east and south. / A rocky isle, but good for a boy’s training ; / I shall not see on earth a place more dear, / though I have been detained long by Calypso, / loveliest among goddesses, who held me / in her smooth caves, to be her heart’s delight, / as Circe of Aeaea, the enchantress, / desired me, and detained me in her hall, / But in my heart I never gave consent, / where shall a man find sweetness to surpass / his own home and parents?

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