Circe

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Brainstorm a list of 5-8 Greek myths. What story qualities do they have in common? What are their major differences?

Teaching Suggestion: This is a good opportunity to talk about oral tradition and the ways in which myths in general are shaped by the societies that retell them. In Circe, Miller gives the witch a new life and identity, reinterpreting her story for a new audience.

• Encyclopedia Britannica provides a useful list of figures from Greek mythology.
• LitHub compiled a list of other examples of reinterpreted myths written by female writers, including the novel The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood and the album Hadestown by Anais Mitchell.

2. What makes a good villain? Why is having a good villain an important part of a story?

Teaching Suggestion: Traditionally, Circe has been seen as a villain who is outsmarted by the hero Odysseus in The Odyssey. Thinking about villains and discussing why villains are both interesting and necessary provides some opening context for reimagining Circe’s story.

• Jericho Writers published “What Makes a Good Villain – Build Your Own Bad Guy,” an article that lists some characteristics and examples of well-developed villains.
• TV Tropes.org’s “Create Your Own Villain” discusses the many ways in which heroes contribute to the villain’s emergence.

Short Activity

Choose a villain from literature or cinema whose origin story is not well-developed. Create a bulleted list of backstory points for that villain. From what kind of background do they come? What early experiences led to their villainous traits? What is the villain’s goal in the story, and why are they trying to achieve it? What backstory experiences might explain why the villain wants to achieve that goal?

Teaching Suggestion: Encourage students to think outside of the box with this question. They could choose an underdeveloped villain, like Sid from Toy Story, or a more complex one like Ultron or Thanos from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

• The Well-Storied Podcast offers an episode called “How to Craft a Believable Villain” with advice on creating a fully-developed villain. This information might help students think about the ways in which Miller spins Circe away from her villainous past.
• The Star Wars saga offers a detailed example of an origin story with the villain Darth Vader; consider how filmmakers first established his character in the original three films, then focused on Anakin Skywalker in the prequel trilogy. This topic might contribute to students’ discussion, and the Star Wars official website breaks down Vader’s full timeline.