“They went through the woods and found Circe’s house In an upland clearing. It was built of polished stone And surrounded by mountain lions and wolves, Creatures Circe had drugged and bewitched. These beasts did not attack [Odysseus’] men, but stood On their hind legs and wagged their long tails, Like dogs fawning on their master who always brings Treats for them when he comes home from a feast” (Book 10, Lines 226-233).
In this passage, the working binary is of civilization/domestication and the wild. Circe’s house is representative of a domesticated place, which is surrounded by the wilderness: the woods. In civilized life, people alter their surroundings from its natural state of being. One way the land was altered in this case was by building a permanent structure: Circe’s stone house. Also, the fact that Circe’s house was found in an upland clearing shows how the land has been altered to make a suitable living space for her. In addition to the setting, Circe’s house is also surrounded by wild animals: mountain lions and wolves. These animals complicate the working binary in a few ways. In the passage, these wild animals are compared to domesticated dogs; they do not act as wild and savage as they should. Domesticated animals only exist where there is human civilization. So, the fact that these beasts were found in the one place in the woods that was not wild challenges the binary. Part of the reason why the beasts acted this way is because they were most likely men who were transformed into beasts by Circe. This would explain why they stood on their hind legs instead of all fours and why they were compared to domesticated animals: because they were originally civilized people. So, essentially these beasts were men who were transformed into wild animals by Circe and lived with her, domesticated in her stone dwelling, which is surrounded by the woods.
Really interesting binary to unpack–great moment to choose. I think you’re right that the human/non-human animals trouble the distinction between wild and domestic, untamed and civilized. WHY do you think Homer emphasizes the interplay of the wild, and the domestic here? Are there resonances in the broader epic, or is this dynamic concentrated in the Circe episode alone?
The point that you brought up about the once-civilized people/beasts is really mind boggling to think about. These people who were once the same (essentially) as their master in terms of functioning and consciousness have now been forced into submission. The inclusion of this binary in this specific scene, too, really puts into perspective how animalistic we are, and how human animals can be. I love how you used the clearing and the house as an example of domestication/civilization in such a wild place.