The source I have chosen for my creative narrative case study is the 1997 TV series titled “The Odyssey”. I believe this is an important source for my case study as it offers not only a story component very similar to the physical book but also a much-needed visual component for the character of Circe. Circe is a character who has been infamous throughout history, literature, art, and more recently film and television. I believe it’s important to see how modern film portrays and represents the character of Circe as a person and what purposeful choices they make to bring her to life on screen. We can analyze how Circe is represented through choices in appearance, acting, lighting, and script, something the book counterpart fails to convey in full detail.

In this on-screen version of the Odyssey, We can see the real struggle and turmoil Odysseus experiences during his journey to reach Circe castle and free his men. We see this when Hermes visits Odyessus when he is on the brink of giving up and falling off the cliff he’s climbing, and Hermes insists he reach the rock above him, encouraging him not to give up and keep trying. Hermes offers Odysseus a herb to eat, to which Odysseus refuses at first but relents when Hermes tells him it’s the only way to beat Circe. Hermes says now that he has eaten the herb, her honeyed potion will not affect him. He tells Odysseus to draw his sword and pretend to kill her, to which she will tell him to take her to bed, and only then will she release his men. We can also see differences in Circe’s personality. Here Circe is portrayed as much more sensual, and far less afraid when Odysseus puts his knife to her neck, only smiling at him and telling him if he kills her he will never see his men again. In the book version, Cicre screams and cowers in fear when Odysseus threatens her with his sword. This Circe seems to be far more confident and conniving, especially when she invites Odyesseus and his men back for food and a place to stay, bathing them and feeding them lotus flowers, making them forget their home and tricking them into staying for five whole years. When she reveals this information to Odyesseus he is distraught, flying into a rage at being tricked into staying for five years, to which Circe shifts the blame onto Odyesseus for lingering in her bed so long after his men were freed. This scene isn’t in the book, and the TV show combines elements from the island of the lotus eaters and the story of Circe, meshing them into one.

These purposeful choices made in the TV series effectively communicate that Circe is a more cunning and calculating figure than portrayed in the book. When she and Odysseus are lying in her bed she asks him “ You lie with me yet you think of your wife? Why? While we’ve shared this bed you’ve forgotten her.” By having her plot to sleep with Odyesseus and keep him in her bed in an attempt to make him forget his life in Ithaca and his doting wife Penelope, she becomes a much more threatening and cunning villain in the Odyssey. In the book version, Odysseus leaves immediately after sleeping with Circe and learning that he must journey to the underworld, and isn’t tricked into staying longer by Circe. This Circe wants Odysseus to stay with her and is willing to trick him to make that happen. This fundamental difference in Circe’s personality and goals divides two versions of the same character greatly and forces the viewer to think of Circe as a far more dangerous threat.