Circe Offers Immortality to Odysseus

Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus by John William Waterhouse

When Odysseus first encounters Circe on the enchanted isle of Aeaea, she tempts him with a potion that will turn him into a swine.  They form a "loving" truce, but the symbol of the offered cup characterizes their relationship, notwithstanding the extraordinary aid she will give him in his quest to visit the underworld and, emboldened with the wisdom of the shades, hence proceed to Ithaca.

The first encounter is emblematic of his relationship with her, as later she offers him immortality. The situation is critical, and here (perhaps) Odysseus faces the most pivotal decision in the poem.  Does he accept Circe's offer of immortality?  Does he drink from her "cup of life"? The image of Odysseus reflected in the mirror presents the tension of his emotions and the depths of his thoughts.  A never-ending experience of sensual gratification, learning, liberation from the fear of death... But accepting Circe's gift also means forfeiting something of his self--indeed, perhaps his self entirely--his manhood, his identity as a human being, and, one wonders, forfeiting his soul forever. Note the wand, held proudly aloft in a gesture suggesting a shepherd commanding sheep, the delightful bosom thinly veiled, and, ultimately, the swine at her feet--the fate of Odysseus's sailors who had fallen to her bewitchments.  She is no human woman, not a wife... and one is reminded of Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, where Faust demands a wife but is left only with a demon posing as his whore, for as Mephistopheles admonishes Faust, marriage is a sacrament, and Faust is denied such things... After signing off his soul, Faust is mere spirit.  Though Odysseus fully contemplates and feels anticipation for the delights and is "properly" tempted (again, look at his face reflected in the mirror), his thoughtfulness counsels him and he is led to spiritual safety.  Note also in his hand the raised knife.  Thoughtfulness, alertness, and seeing through appearances to reality are amply represented by the image of a keen weapon. Toward the end of the book (Book 10) Odysseus will again use his blade to command the shades of the dead.