Why Christopher Nolan turned Circe into a vindictive witch

Some critics have bemoaned the flattening of a complex character. But Nolan’s film echoes a literary tradition of reimagining Circe as a survivor, a truth-teller and a figure of female empowerment.

By: Bailey Sincox, Binghamton University, State University of New York, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: August 6, 2026

Words: 1,481

Last Updated: 1 week, 3 days ago

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By Bailey Sincox, Binghamton University, State University of New York

I’ve taught “The Odyssey” to college students for over a decade, including in a course on witches in Western culture. I suspect my students would immediately notice that the Circe in Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey” is a departure from the one who appears in Homer’s ancient poem.

Homer’s Circe is an immortal goddess, desirable and beguiling. In classics scholar Emily Wilson’s 2017 …

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