Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus, by John William Waterhouse. |
In Greek mythology, Circe is a minor goddess of magic (or sometimes a nymph, witch, enchantress or sorceress), described in Homer's Odyssey as "The loveliest of all immortals", living on the island of Aeaea, famous for her part in the adventures of Odysseus.
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 Pasiphaƫ, the wife of King Minos and mother of the Minotaur. Other accounts make her the daughter of Hecate.
Circe transformed her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals through the use of magical potions. She was known for her vast knowledge of drugs and herbs.
I don't know about you, but that just screams "baddie". I could see Circe or a reasonable fascimile being used in a RPG setting. Maybe she's gone on a tear and turning people left and right into animals and a group of adventurers are hired to take her down. Perhaps they end up in her lands and Circe invites to dinner, and the heroes, not knowing who she is, accepts. I would probably extend her power to morph people into animals from just potions (which in itself is interesting and worth keeping) to an actual polymorph spell she can cast. The fact that she gave birth to the Minotaur just makes it even better! Imagine having to face down Circe and at least Minotaurs at the same time.
I was toying with the idea of laying down stats like Vanilla Ice lays down fat rhymes, but unfortunately, I can't think of any. Anyone else want to try?
No comments:
Post a Comment