Summary

In the first stanza, Circe claims never to have transformed anyone into a pig. Her powers only make the people who truly “are pigs” inside resemble swine in a physical way. The next stanza begins with Circe’s declaration that she is sick of Odysseus’s world that “lets the outside disguise the inside” (5). She goes on to tell Odysseus that his men are not bad, but that a lack of discipline caused them to become pigs.

Circe states in the third stanza that under her own care and the care of her “ladies,” the pig-men “sweetened right up” (8 and 10). The spell ends when Circe uses her powers to reverse the mens’ transformation. In the fourth stanza, Circe speaks of her goodness existing alongside her power.

Stanza five expresses Circe’s desire for a relationship with Odysseus, but in the following stanza she communicates...