Aeaea
The mythical island home of the enchantress Circe, where Odysseus's men were transformed into swine and the hero spent a year of enchanted captivity.
The Story of Aeaea
Aeaea was the island of Circe, daughter of Helios the sun god and the Oceanid Perse, making her a divine sorceress of Titan lineage. When Odysseus and his crew landed after their disastrous encounter with the Laestrygonians, Circe invited them to feast. She mixed a potion of cheese, barley, honey, and Pramnian wine laced with her drugs, then struck the men with her wand, transforming them into swine. Hermes appeared to Odysseus and gave him the herb moly — a plant with a black root and white flower — that made him immune to her magic. When Circe's spells failed, she recognised Odysseus as the hero Hermes had prophesied. They became lovers, and Odysseus stayed a year. Circe then guided him to the Underworld to consult the shade of Tiresias for the route home to Ithaca. She also warned him about the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, and the cattle of Helios on Thrinacia.
Parents
Helios, Perse
Symbols
Fun Fact
Cape Circeo on the Italian coast south of Rome has been identified with Aeaea since antiquity — the promontory looks like an island from the sea, matching Homer's description. The herb moly that Hermes gave Odysseus has been identified by ethnobotanists as snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis), which contains galantamine, a compound now used to treat Alzheimer's disease. Homer may have encoded real pharmacological knowledge in his enchantress narrative.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Aeaea
🏛 placeIsland of the sorceress Circe
Aeaea was the mythical island home of Circe, the divine sorceress who transformed Odysseus's men into swine and became his lover for a year.
Circe
⚡ godSorceress goddess of transformation
A powerful sorceress who lived on the island of Aeaea. Circe transformed Odysseus's men into swine and later became his lover and advisor.
Circe
⚡ godsorcery
Daughter of Helios and powerful sorceress who transformed Odysseus's men into pigs on the island of Aeaea.
Lemnos
🏛 placeIsland of Hephaestus
Lemnos was a volcanic island in the northern Aegean sacred to Hephaestus, where the god of the forge landed after Zeus hurled him from Olympus.
Ithaca
🏛 placeIsland kingdom of Odysseus
A small, rocky island in the Ionian Sea that was the homeland of Odysseus. His desperate longing to return to Ithaca drove his ten-year journey after the Trojan War.
Scyros
🏛 placegeography
An Aegean island where Achilles was hidden disguised as a girl, and where Theseus died in exile.
Scheria
🏛 placeutopia, hospitality
The island of the Phaeacians, a maritime utopia of divine ships, magical gardens, and perfect hospitality that represented the last threshold before Odysseus's return to reality.
Scheria
🏛 placeLand of the Phaeacians
Scheria was the island of the Phaeacians, a seafaring people beloved by the gods, where the shipwrecked Odysseus was welcomed by King Alcinous and Princess Nausicaa.
Phaeacia
🏛 placegeography
The mythical island kingdom of the seafaring Phaeacians, who transported Odysseus home in a magic ship.
Tyre
🏛 placeGeography
The great Phoenician island-city whose princess Europa was abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull
Thasos
🏛 placeGeography
A gold-rich island in the northern Aegean colonised from Paros and associated with the hero Heracles
Delos
🏛 placeBirthplace of Apollo and Artemis
Delos was a tiny island in the Cyclades, sacred as the birthplace of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis — one of the holiest sites in the ancient Greek world.