Introduction

In Book 10 of The Odyssey, we first meet Circe. She is a beautiful goddess from the island of Aeaea, which is just west of what we now know as Italy. Odysseus’ crew meets Circe first and quickly find out she has the ability to turn men into animals. They found this out as they were turned into pigs and locked away in cages. Odysseus is angry and needs his men back, so he confronts Circe. On his journey to confront Circe, he meets Hermes, who will inform Odysseus about who Circe is and gives him a special drug that will prevent Odysseus from falling to Circes’ magic. Odysseus then goes to Circes castle and she leads him in.  In a gold cup she mixes him a drink, the drink which should turn him into a pig. After the potion did not work, she instantly knew he was Odysseus. “Your mind is not enchanted, you must be Odysseus”, she says to him. Such a simple yet powerful line. She is undermining his power and uses hers to try and get him into bed with her. This passage presents the image of Odysseus looking smaller and less powerful through the eyes of Circe. She still believes she can take advantage of him even without the potion.

Chosen Passage

The passage I chose in book 10 that best describes leadership is when Odysseus’ crew gets turned into pigs by Circe and Odysseus storms to the castle to save them. This happens between lines 300-345. “Circe! How can you command me to treat you gently, when you turned my men to pigs.” In these lines you can imagine the energy and anger Odysseus is giving off at that moment. He is a fearless leader for his men to try and get them back to their original form. You can also use the imagery in this passage to understand Circe and Odysseus’ feelings and personality more. They are both strong leaders but in different ways. Odysseus uses his power at this moment to help get his men back, while Circe is using hers to benefit herself. She first took advantage of Odysseus’ crew naiveness to turn them into pigs and then tried to do the same to Odysseus. After it didn’t work, she continued to try different methods to take advantage of him. This just shows that she believes she has more power than Odysseus.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the imagery from book 10, more specifically the passage I chose where Odysseus stood up to Circe. He shows his power and leadership towards his crew. He stood up to Circe to save his men from being pigs forever. This was brave and fearless. This is a big indicator that Odysseus cares for his crews saftey like a good leader. This is a pivotal part of The Odyssey. Not only does it show his leadership, but also the journey Odysseus is on to get back home. Odysseus is a brave and strong leader of his group and the imagery in the passage gives us a better understanding of that.