this was beautiful to read, which sounds silly, but -- it made me regret not reading about her more. you made me consider a new book for my own summer reading.
i love that you're doing this for 100 things -- i'm learning so much :) ♥
there are loads of modern circes in contemporary lit (though i'm blanking on most of them right now) -- i know song of solomon even has a character named "circe" etc etc. i don't think it's fair that a lot of the time she's reduced to the femme fatale archetype, or any solid archetype at all, because she's so complex & problematic -- she totally fucks with the madonna/whore dichotomy and she's also like, endlessly graceful & wise & THE DAUGHTER OF THE SUN.
clearly i can keep going but what i wanted to say was she's in so much of literature!! also read the odyssey!! it's easy if you get a proper translation & fun & beautiful & the basis for like, everything in my life. also sexy sailor men, yes.
yeah truthfully, before i ever read anything of her/of the odyssey/etc i always attributed circe to being a seductress-type/femme fatale but the more you talk about her & the more i read about her the more i see that it's not really fair to label her one thing!
WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE -- can you let me know which translation you like the best? i have like... 2 versions of it in my room i think (god knows why) but i'm not sure if either of them are the best. i know the translation i had of the iliad was wonderful but idk where it is to check who did it 8(
SHE'S SO GREAT HOLY SHIT you should read atwood's "mud poems" which i was sending you excerpts of and also circe's power by gluck which is incredible (& short) if just for the ending alone. a lot of what made me fall in love with her can be chalked up to these poems but the more i think about & study her the more i realize that maybe even these don't do her justice. there's such a focus on her love for odysseus and while i feel like that's definitely a part of her character it's silly to just sweep everything else she does under the rug, just because she has human qualities & is vulnerable in front of a man. what is so admirable & cool about circe is her ability to take what she's given in her little gender box and use femininity/the stereotypical female role to say fuck you, dudes and do whatever the fuck she wants. SHUT UP ZEYNEP
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i love that you're doing this for 100 things -- i'm learning so much :) ♥
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clearly i can keep going but what i wanted to say was she's in so much of literature!! also read the odyssey!! it's easy if you get a proper translation & fun & beautiful & the basis for like, everything in my life. also sexy sailor men, yes.
HAHAHHAA ALSO I'M GLAD YOU LIKE IT ♥ :)
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WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE -- can you let me know which translation you like the best? i have like... 2 versions of it in my room i think (god knows why) but i'm not sure if either of them are the best. i know the translation i had of the iliad was wonderful but idk where it is to check who did it 8(
♥
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yes i can! i will do this. ♥
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