Circe
I think that a very interesting aspect of Circe is her intensely unhealthy and deeply troubling sexual encounters. In the Odyssey, Circe tells Odysseus that "through making love [they] may begin to trust each other more." But the sexual relationship that they do end up having hardly fosters trust- Odysseus still makes Circe swear an oath not to kill him and the whole situation feels transactional. In Metamorphoses, we see a similar situation where Circe wants the attentions of Glaucus and when she cannot have them, she lashes out by turning the genitals of Glaucus' love into monsters. Circe strikes me as a deeply insecure goddess, which is rare when we compare her to Athena, Aphrodite, or Artemis, who are many things but are unwaveringly confident. It feels like Circe, all alone on her island, views sex as her only currency, even though she has vast magical abilities. I think all of this makes Circe a sympathetic character, even if she is a destructive one.Â