The Last Encounter of Circe and Prometheus
‘Prometheus Carrying Fire,’ oil on canvas (1637), by Jan Cossiers.
On the bay of Aiaia, Circe is sitting on the shore of the ocean and admiring the crashing waves, the white clouds, the tan sand underneath her. She grabs a handful of the sand and lets it fall slowly back where it belongs. Telegonus is still west in the growing cities. Circe misses him dearly. As she is walking through the halls of her small house, she sees Telemachus sleeping in her bed. Circe cannot sleep. She finds herself thinking of Prometheus and where he is now. She had heard that he had been freed from his punishment. She sends a letter to the last known place he has resided in, asking if they could meet on Aiaia.
Three days later, she gets a letter from Prometheus saying he would love to meet and that he would be there in two days' time. Circe was ecstatic that she would see him soon. She had so many questions to ask him. She started getting the house clean, she let it go a little bit. She woke up Telemachus and told him the news. He already knew the story of their first meeting when she was just a girl. On the day of his arrival, Circe decided to make a feast, he is still a god, so the customs still apply. She makes nectar and ambrosia. She also makes mozzarella cheese, feta cheese, gouda cheese, and wine. She puts the feast on plates and puts them on the table. She was extremely nervous. She has not seen this man in thousands of years. She sees a boat approaching the beach of Aiaia. She knows it’s Prometheus and walks to the shore to greet him.
She greets the tall, polished walnut colored skinned man with blue eyes and walks him to her house where Telemachus has left to the woods so Circe can talk with Prometheus. Circe ushers Prometheus to the table of food even though he does not need it he seems to eat some feta cheese but doesn’t as Circe pour two glasses of wine. She asks her first question which was, “How did you get out of your punishment?” He replies, “Zeus needed some knowledge I had so he let me go free.” Circe says, “Oh...that’s great!” He asks, “How did you get out of your exile? And why do you still live in the place of your exile?” To which she replies, “I told my father that if he did not end my exile, I would tell Zeus that I spoke to you when you were being punished and tell him the whispers I heard throughout my childhood. My father knew he would be held accountable for my actions and be punished for it, so he let me go free and disowned me.” Prometheus asked the question, “What was your exile like?” Circe answered, “It was lonely for many years, but I started to like the isolation, then the other unwanted nymphs came and annoyed me for a while. Then, we started to get visiting sailors started to come to my shores, something happened that I would rather like to forget happened,” she cringed at the memory and continued, “So after that, I started to turn men into pigs, met the father of my son, and had my son and raised him. That’s the jest of events. What about you? How was your punishment?” He sighed as if he didn’t want to talk about it but then said, “I could not feel the eagle, but the repetition got to me and ate away at my sanity. I was alone as you were with no visitors. I was very isolated.”
It got quiet for a while as Circe ate and Prometheus pretended to eat. He said he would never be hungry. He said, “I had a feeling that one day you would become a mortal.” Circe says, “It was the best decision I have ever made.” She adds, “Have you ever thought of being human?” He takes a moment to think and says, “Once... It was when I was still enduring my punishment. I thought, ‘If I were human, I would not have to do this every day.’ That was the only day I thought of being human.” It got quiet again. As he pours himself some nectar, he says, “You know that conversation we had on the day before my punishment way reveled, I thought about it a lot during the days of my punishment.” Circe says, “I thought of it often as well.” “It kept me sane on some days.” The memories of that day flowed through both of their minds. The blood of Prometheus on the floor, the sound of the whip on his skin, the eagerness of the other family members trying to get a better view, and their relatives not saying anything in protest or to him. “That was one of the worst things I had ever seen,” Circe says.
Trying to lighten the mood, Circe says, “How have you been?” He answered, “I have been well as I said I would be. I stay to myself mostly. What about yourself?” She said, “I have been well, I had a son, his name is Telegonus, I fell in love with my son’s father’s other son. Now I live on Aiaia with him.” “What’s the man’s name?” “Which one?” “Both,” he said as he drank some nectar. “Odysseus is the name of my son’s father and his other son’s name is Telemachus.”
“I think I will leave you with your normalcy. I am grateful for your hospitality.” Prometheus says. Circe had one more thing to tell him but didn’t know how to. “You’re leaving so some?” “Yes...I don’t want to be a burden on you and your household.” “Okay. I have one more thing to tell you. I wanted to say thank you for what you said that day, ‘Not every god need be the same.’ Those words stayed with me through the years of my life. And as I said they kept me sane so thank you” Circe says. Prometheus wanted to say thank you as well to her, so he said, “You are very welcome. I also want to say thank you for proving my point that not all gods need to be the same. You have had your misdeeds, but you always found the wrongness of your actions and tried to fix them. You tried to do the best thing for the humans even though they showed you, their worst.” Circe was stunned that he thought she proved his point.
She didn’t want him to leave yet. She felt as though she had more questions she couldn’t think of at that moment. She did ask for such a human thing as a hug and he obliged. She showed him back to his boat and they said their goodbyes. She gave him some leftover nectar which seemed to be the only thing he consumed. As she watched his boat and Prometheus descend onto the horizon, she felt as though she had gotten answers to the questions she had.
Work Cited
Prof. Geller. “Prometheus - Greek Titan, Creator of Mankind.” Mythology.net, 8 Dec. 2016, https://mythology.net/greek/titans/prometheus/.
MasterClass. “4 Most Common Story Structures: How to Write Stories.” MasterClass, MasterClass, 31 Aug. 2021, https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-better-novel#4-types-of-story-structures-and-how-to-use-each.
“Prometheus: The Fire Bringer.” Greek Mythology, https://www.greekmythology.com/Titans/Prometheus/prometheus.html.
van Gulik, Thomas M, et al. “[Prometheus and Liver Regeneration: The Dissection of a Myth].” Nederlands Tijdschrift Voor Geneeskunde, U.S. National Library of Medicine, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30212020/.
Three days later, she gets a letter from Prometheus saying he would love to meet and that he would be there in two days' time. Circe was ecstatic that she would see him soon. She had so many questions to ask him. She started getting the house clean, she let it go a little bit. She woke up Telemachus and told him the news. He already knew the story of their first meeting when she was just a girl. On the day of his arrival, Circe decided to make a feast, he is still a god, so the customs still apply. She makes nectar and ambrosia. She also makes mozzarella cheese, feta cheese, gouda cheese, and wine. She puts the feast on plates and puts them on the table. She was extremely nervous. She has not seen this man in thousands of years. She sees a boat approaching the beach of Aiaia. She knows it’s Prometheus and walks to the shore to greet him.
She greets the tall, polished walnut colored skinned man with blue eyes and walks him to her house where Telemachus has left to the woods so Circe can talk with Prometheus. Circe ushers Prometheus to the table of food even though he does not need it he seems to eat some feta cheese but doesn’t as Circe pour two glasses of wine. She asks her first question which was, “How did you get out of your punishment?” He replies, “Zeus needed some knowledge I had so he let me go free.” Circe says, “Oh...that’s great!” He asks, “How did you get out of your exile? And why do you still live in the place of your exile?” To which she replies, “I told my father that if he did not end my exile, I would tell Zeus that I spoke to you when you were being punished and tell him the whispers I heard throughout my childhood. My father knew he would be held accountable for my actions and be punished for it, so he let me go free and disowned me.” Prometheus asked the question, “What was your exile like?” Circe answered, “It was lonely for many years, but I started to like the isolation, then the other unwanted nymphs came and annoyed me for a while. Then, we started to get visiting sailors started to come to my shores, something happened that I would rather like to forget happened,” she cringed at the memory and continued, “So after that, I started to turn men into pigs, met the father of my son, and had my son and raised him. That’s the jest of events. What about you? How was your punishment?” He sighed as if he didn’t want to talk about it but then said, “I could not feel the eagle, but the repetition got to me and ate away at my sanity. I was alone as you were with no visitors. I was very isolated.”
It got quiet for a while as Circe ate and Prometheus pretended to eat. He said he would never be hungry. He said, “I had a feeling that one day you would become a mortal.” Circe says, “It was the best decision I have ever made.” She adds, “Have you ever thought of being human?” He takes a moment to think and says, “Once... It was when I was still enduring my punishment. I thought, ‘If I were human, I would not have to do this every day.’ That was the only day I thought of being human.” It got quiet again. As he pours himself some nectar, he says, “You know that conversation we had on the day before my punishment way reveled, I thought about it a lot during the days of my punishment.” Circe says, “I thought of it often as well.” “It kept me sane on some days.” The memories of that day flowed through both of their minds. The blood of Prometheus on the floor, the sound of the whip on his skin, the eagerness of the other family members trying to get a better view, and their relatives not saying anything in protest or to him. “That was one of the worst things I had ever seen,” Circe says.
Trying to lighten the mood, Circe says, “How have you been?” He answered, “I have been well as I said I would be. I stay to myself mostly. What about yourself?” She said, “I have been well, I had a son, his name is Telegonus, I fell in love with my son’s father’s other son. Now I live on Aiaia with him.” “What’s the man’s name?” “Which one?” “Both,” he said as he drank some nectar. “Odysseus is the name of my son’s father and his other son’s name is Telemachus.”
“I think I will leave you with your normalcy. I am grateful for your hospitality.” Prometheus says. Circe had one more thing to tell him but didn’t know how to. “You’re leaving so some?” “Yes...I don’t want to be a burden on you and your household.” “Okay. I have one more thing to tell you. I wanted to say thank you for what you said that day, ‘Not every god need be the same.’ Those words stayed with me through the years of my life. And as I said they kept me sane so thank you” Circe says. Prometheus wanted to say thank you as well to her, so he said, “You are very welcome. I also want to say thank you for proving my point that not all gods need to be the same. You have had your misdeeds, but you always found the wrongness of your actions and tried to fix them. You tried to do the best thing for the humans even though they showed you, their worst.” Circe was stunned that he thought she proved his point.
She didn’t want him to leave yet. She felt as though she had more questions she couldn’t think of at that moment. She did ask for such a human thing as a hug and he obliged. She showed him back to his boat and they said their goodbyes. She gave him some leftover nectar which seemed to be the only thing he consumed. As she watched his boat and Prometheus descend onto the horizon, she felt as though she had gotten answers to the questions she had.
Work Cited
Prof. Geller. “Prometheus - Greek Titan, Creator of Mankind.” Mythology.net, 8 Dec. 2016, https://mythology.net/greek/titans/prometheus/.
MasterClass. “4 Most Common Story Structures: How to Write Stories.” MasterClass, MasterClass, 31 Aug. 2021, https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-better-novel#4-types-of-story-structures-and-how-to-use-each.
“Prometheus: The Fire Bringer.” Greek Mythology, https://www.greekmythology.com/Titans/Prometheus/prometheus.html.
van Gulik, Thomas M, et al. “[Prometheus and Liver Regeneration: The Dissection of a Myth].” Nederlands Tijdschrift Voor Geneeskunde, U.S. National Library of Medicine, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30212020/.
