De Circe solis filia · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture · Center for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: De Circe solis filia
Subject: Circe; Ulysses; Greek Mythology; Important Women
Period: 1450-1500;
Geographic: Mount Circeo; Italy; Aetheum
Description: This engraving depicts Circe, the daughter of the Sun, on the left-hand side of the engraving. We know that this is Circe as her name is engraved horizontally adjacent to her body. Boccaccio explains that Circe was skilled in the art of magic and would often turn people who landed on her shores into animals. When Ulysses and his men happened upon Circe, she transformed Ulysses’ companions into beasts. They are depicted in the engraving with their bodies still in human form, while their heads are changed into animals such as lions and pigs. Ulysses is the one man among them that is still in human form (his name is engraved above his head). Ulysses threatens Circe with his sword, and she eventually changes his companions back into their original forms.
Image Creator: Anonymous (Engraver)
Type: Text; Woodcut Engraving
Identifier: mta:11946
Language: lat
Source Name: De Claris Mulieribus
Parent Collection: 1473 Ulm
Image: mta_11946_OBJ.png