Circe

Circe

       Circe was the daughter of the sun god Helios and the ocean nymph Perse. She was both a goddess and a sorceress, and was referred to as "The Dread Goddess." She is portrayed as a woman with bright red hair brewing potions, and offering them to visitors with a wand in her hand. She was skilled at using magic, her specialties were metamorphosis, the power of illusion, and the dark art of necromancy. Often, for fun she would transform both men and woman into beasts, changing only their physical appearance and keeping them in charge of their mental sense. She lived on an enchanted island off the coast of Italy called Aeaea where she lured sailors to her shore with her songs. The island was supposedly magical and once a sailor landed on shore he was lost forever. In translation Circe means falcon and in many myths associated with her she is like a bird of prey circling her victim as she enchanted them with her potions of hallucinations. When she didn't want to be bothered she would use her magic to make tree's dance and the earth shake which would distort and confuse the sailors into leaving. There's a story of Circe marrying a prince to gain ruler-ship over his kingdom then poisoning him so she could rule alone. But once her subjects found out she fled to the island and lived in exile. That's where she lured many lovers into desiring her and turned some into animals.