Circe

Circe (Gr. KipKrt), in Greek legend, a famous sorceress[sawr-ser-is], the daughter of Helios [hee-lee-os]and the ocean nymph [nɪmf] Perse. Having murdered her husband, the prince of Colchis [kol-kis], she was expelled by her subjects and placed by her father on the solitary island of Aeaea [ee-ee-uh] on the coast of Italy. She was able by means of drugs and incantations to change human beings into the forms of wolves or lions, and with these beings her palace was surrounded. Here she was found by Odysseus[oh-dis-ee-uhs, oh-dis-yoos] and his companions; the latter she changed into swine, but the hero, protected by the herb moly, which n he had received from Hermes, not only forced her to restore them to their original shape, but also gained her love. For a year he relinquished himself to her endearments, and when he determined to leave, she instructed him how to sail to the land of shades which lay on the verge of the ocean stream, in order to learn his fate from the prophet Teiresias[tahy-ree-see-uh

s]. Upon his return she also gave him directions for avoiding the dangers of the journey home (Homer, Odyssey, x. - xii.; Hyginus, Fab. 125). The Roman poets associated her with the most ancient traditions of Latium[ley-shee-uhm], and assigned her a home on the promontory of Circei (Virgil, Aeneid, vii. 10). The metamorphoses of Scylla and of Picus, king of the Ausonians, by Circe, are narrated in Ovid (Metamorphoses, xiv.). The Myth of Kirke, by R. Brown (1883), in which Circe is explained as a moon-goddess of Babylonian origin, contains an exhaustive summary of facts, although many of the author's speculations may be proved untenable

Circe (Gr. KipKrt), in Greek legend, a famous sorceress[sawr-ser-is], the daughter of Helios [hee-lee-os]and the ocean nymph [nɪmf] Perse. Having murdered her husband, the prince of Colchis [kol-kis], she was expelled by her subjects and placed by her father on the solitary island of Aeaea [ee-ee-uh] on the coast of Italy. She was able by means of drugs and incantations to change human beings into the forms of wolves or lions, and with these beings her palace was surrounded. Here she was found by Odysseus[oh-dis-ee-uhs, oh-dis-yoos] and his companions; the latter she changed into swine, but the hero, protected by the herb moly, which n he had received from Hermes, not only forced her to restore them to their original shape, but also gained her love. For a year he relinquished himself to her endearments, and when he determined to leave, she instructed him how to sail to the land of shades which lay on the verge of the ocean stream, in order to learn his fate from the prophet Teiresias[tahy-ree-see-uhs]. Upon his return she also gave him directions for avoiding the dangers of the journey home (Homer, Odyssey, x. - xii.; Hyginus, Fab. 125). The Roman poets associated her with the most ancient traditions of Latium[ley-shee-uhm], and assigned her a home on the promontory of Circei (Virgil, Aeneid, vii. 10). The metamorphoses[,metə'mɔ:,fəʊz, -,fəʊs] of Scylla and of Picus, king of the Ausonians, by Circe, are narrated in Ovid (Metamorphoses, xiv.). The Myth of Kirke, by R. Brown (1883), in which Circe is explained as a moon-goddess of Babylonian origin, contains an exhaustive summary of facts, although many of the author's speculations may be proved untenable

Modern usage :a dangerously or irresistibly fascinating woman.

In Greek mythology, Circe (pronounced / ˈs ɜ rsi ː / ; Greek Κίρκη Kírkē "falcon") is a minor goddess of magic (or sometimes a nymph, witch, enchantress or sorceress) living on the island of Aeaea, famous for her part in the adventures of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey.

By most accounts, Circe was the daughter of Helios, the god of the sun, and Perse, an Oceanid, and the sister of Aeetes, the keeper of the Golden Fleece, Perses, and Pasiphaë, the Wife of King Minos and mother of the Minotaur.[1] Other accounts make her the daughter of Hecate.[2]

Circe transformed her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals through the use of magical potions. She was known for her knowledge of drugs and herbs.

That Circe also purified the Argonauts for the death of Apsyrtus, as related in Argonautica,[3] may reflect early tradition.[4]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Circe_Offering_the_Cup_to_Odysseus.jpg