The islands of Circe and Calypso in Homers Odyssey are places where Odysseus most challenging problems occur. In contrast to battles with men, Cyclops, or animals, sexual battles with women are sometimes much more difficult to win. These two female characters are especially enticing to Odysseus because they are goddesses. Though it is evident that Odysseus longs to return to Penelope in Ithaka, it sometimes appears that he has lost vision of what life was like with a wife, a son, and with thousands of people who regard him as King. Although his experiences on the islands of these goddesses were similar in that he was retained from Ithaka for the longest periods of his adventure, these goddesses and the ways that Odysseus reacts to his experiences with them represent two very different aspects of Odysseus life and disposition in life. When Odysseus and his men arrive on Circes island, they are still in fairly good shape. In Book X, lines 194-196, Odysseus says:"I climbed to a rocky place of observation and looked at the island, and the endless sea lies all in a circle around it" I believe this illuminates a very important aspect in Circes tendencies. She doesnt seem to want to cause any real harm to the men, but wishes to encircle these men with her food, wine, and lust. She seems to be obsessed with lust and material possessions, and it is my belief that she represents all that is weak in women (at least in Homers time). In lines 294-296 Hermes is consulting Odysseus on how to avoid harm from Circe:"rush forward against Circe, as if you were raging to kill her, and she will be afraid, and invite you to go to bed with her."Circe also shows us as readers Odysseus weakness towards lust and sexuality. This time spent on Circes island was a test of whether he could resist lust from a goddess, and he fails. At first it appears as though the only reason Odysseus sleeps with Circe is to regain his companions, but she easily persuades them to...
