Ch. 9
Here we are introduced to Daedalus, who has been tasked to bring Circe to her sister’s home on the island of Crete. What are your impressions of him.
Daedalus seems a clever man who has some self-confidence. Although he knelt to Circe and shod his respect toward her, “his eyes met [Circe’s eyes] without flinching” (Miller 88). It seems he is polite to Circe because he knows his limits as a mortal, but he does not feel the necessity to grovel. When Daedalus gives Pasipae’s message to Circe, he is polite enough to choose language like “Pardon, lady,” but he is brave enough to say, “I can say no more”(Miller 89). Thinking about the fact that it is risky to say ‘no’ to immortal for a mortal, he is on edge between rude and brave.
In dealing with the plan to encounter Scylla, Circe remarks about the surly sailor Polydemas, “I would come to know this type of man, jealous of his little power, to whom I was only a woman”(112). What does she mean by this observation, and how might this foreshadow events to come??
Thinking of Circe’s power, transformation, it seems Circe plan to transform into the shape of a man. There are lots of this kind of trick in many myths which woman disguise to be a man because of patriarchy. When women have the power to solve some problems, they are often neglected by men who envy and distrust women’s power. Therefore, female character who has a solution often disguise themselves as men and solve the problems like Mulan.
Since people like Polydemas believe women suppose to be inferior to men, they can not stand the talented women and even women in a higher class. Definitely, Polydemas is one of the kinds of men who do not like Circe to overcome his authority as a captain but still merely a mortal man. Therefore, no matter Circe is a witch and demigod who has a solution to save the entire crew's life, she will not receive Polydemas’s respect unless she transforms into the shape of her brother.
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