I’ve taught “The Odyssey” to college students for over a decade, including in a course on witches in Western culture. I suspect my students would immediately notice that the Circe in Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey” is a departure from the one who appears in Homer’s ancient poem.

Homer’s Circe is an immortal goddess, desirable and beguiling. In classics scholar Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation of “The Odyssey,” she is described as “the lovely Circe with her braided hair.” She lives in a “beautiful tall house of polished stone” and “shining doors,” along with dozens of nymphs, fellow goddesses who serve her and her guests. When Odysseus arrives in Book 10, Circe and her household treat him with the highest standard of hospitality, giving him a bath, fresh clothes, and wine to drink from golden cups.

Then there’s Nolan’s Circe, played by Samantha Morton: She is less ancient goddess than fairy-tale witch, with a dirt-smudged face and an unkempt ponytail. Her hut is dark and dilapidated. She is alone. Inside, where a cauldron bubbles and a caged raven croaks, she offers Odysseus and his men a goopy stew, which they greedily devour. Then something strange happens. They begin to gag. Circe puts her hands to their faces, working their flesh like clay. Noses lengthen into snouts. Bellies swell and tails sprout. The men become pigs.

Some critics found the film’s Circe reductive for being portrayed as “a simple witch,” while others found her “almost poetic” for being “earthily human.” Morton, in an interview with The Times of London, spoke about Circe as “a survivor,” evoking women who speak out against abuse.

So, which is it? How faithful is the film’s Circe to the original poem? And what inspired Nolan – and Morton – to portray her this way?

Circe in Homer’s epic

In Homer’s poem, Circe plays a major........

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