An upside-down encounter?

The Encounter of Kirke and Medea in Apollonios Rhodios and Madeline Miller

Abstract

This article focuses on the encounter between two witches, Kirke and Medea, in Apollonios Rhodios' epic Argonautika and Madeline Miller's novel Circe (2018). The origin of the works lies several thousand years apart, which, coupled with Miller's feminist approach, creates the impression of a gap. Have the two works, and with them the encounters of the women, become incompatible due to the long time and the far-reaching social changes? Did Miller have to create a completely new Circe, a new Medea, a new Jason in order to be able to write about these characters at all in our far more emancipated times? Surprisingly, the two texts are linked by numerous similarities, with the theme of re-writing being central. Over several thousand years, authors still resort to similar mechanisms. But Miller does not simply create a new version that places a woman at the centre, but impressively combines a feminist reinterpretation with a critique of conflicts between the sexes that still exist today. Medea and Kirke are thus given a new sphere of action, but the essence of the representation remains the same. Legitimised by the verses of ancient authors, Miller takes her reading audience through several epochs at the same time and reworks Apollonios' version; however, she does not invert the encounter of the witches.