Witches

  Circe enticing Ulysses , Angelica Kauffmann, 1786 Circe , one of the earliest and most enduring powerful females appears in Homer (late 8 th  century bce). In the  Odyssey , she is a sorcerer, a magical enchantress; we know her today as a Greek goddess and witch. She dwells alone among her magically calm lions and wolves (enchanted humans) refining spells and collecting herbs. Then, Odysseus arrives. Circe displays powers of many kinds: she transforms Odysseus’ men into swine with her wand, she deprives men of their virility, she practices necromancy to summon spirits from the Underworld. Homer provides the template for a powerful female with a complex personality. While there is little mention of flight or night activity, Homer’s Circe has both light and dark elements within her character. The darker aspects are gradually woven into her myth and literary tradition over the centuries. In Argonautica , Apollonius of Rhodes (3 rd  century bce) focuses more specific...