Throughout our reading for Monday, I was struck by how ironic it is that in Homer's Odyssey the powerful enchantress Circe turns Odysseus' crew into pigs while Semonides writes of some women deriving from pigs. The juxtaposition of an extremely powerful witch and enchantress, Circe, with the description of how gods made women was fascinating. In one tale were being told the story of a powerful woman who Odysseus must outfox in order to reclaim the lives of his crew and in the other women are discussed as vile and evil beings. On one hand, we could read Circe as one of these vile and evil women, as she does attempt to trick Odysseus and his men many times before eventually pitying them and providing them with splendid feasts. On the other hand, it seems that Homer tries to paint her not as evil or vile without cause but as a woman so powerful that when Odysseus tricks her they become equals. However, Semonides seemingly cares very little for women describing them as derived from pigs, foxes, dogs, weasels, and apes and attributing evil and self-absorbed qualities to each of the women. It was extremely interesting to read tales of two different personifications of women and how women were perceived in the ancient world as we often are clouded by our own modern assumptions about genders.