Circe Invidiosa

Introduction.

The image is of Circe, a figure from Greek mythology, who appears in Homer's Odyssey. This painting shows a scene not from the Odyssey, but from Ovid's Metamorphoses.

A jealous Circe throws a magic potion into the well, where her rival in love Scylla is going to bathe.

The painting is by John William Waterhouse and below this copy was purchased by Fiona in my work room.

I am going to take my impression of the Circe Invidiosa (Envious Circe)picture and create my own myth from it.

Circe Invidiosa

Circe's lover had rejected her, and rejected her for a human, and that a heavenly nymph could not countenance that. Her father Helios told her that if her lover was petty enough not to choose her over a human then she was best rid of him, but that was not enough.

She knew she was beautiful and considered herself irresistible, but obviously not to her one-time lover.

Circe was also a witch and decided that all humans would have to be punished for this incursion on her life.

She was also a witch and started to brew a bowl of poison, not just for the one who had stolen her lover, but for every human: man, woman and child.

With the clear bowl of green poison brewed, Circe floats out over the Pool Of Love and begins to pour the poison into the pool. As the first drop hits the pool ÆSnarg, the serpent of hate and jealousy appears beneath her feet and the pool begins to turn green with Circe's poison. The Pool begins to boil and bubble, agitated by the poison and the serpent which was becoming agitated, eager to spread hate and jealousy among humankind.

On Earth

Husbands started to mistrust their wives and thought that neighbours coveted their possessions. They had never had these feelings before, but they were going stronger every day.

Instead of being happy for people who were successful, they became jealous, which in turn turned to hatred. Any excuse could trigger it, the fact that someone had a good crop, a beautiful partner, a new horse, the colour of their skin or the fact that they came from a different land.

Soon this escalated into theft and physical attacks and eventually murder over the smallest thing.

Humanity had been transformed from a harmonious entity created by the Gods of Olympus into a group of beings who would take any opportunity to hurt and abuse others. Love was dying and Circe's poison had worked far beyond her expectations.

Her ex-lover's bride was murdered after being severely abused by a group of men and women angry that her lover was a god. This left Circe's ex-lover distraught and Circe smiled, but knew she had lost him forever but now she didn't care as she looked down at the destruction and anguish that her poison was causing.

ÆSnarg was rampant in the human world, spreading hate and jealousy that started with fights and escalated into battles and wars resulting in murder and bloodshed and giving more reasons to fight and hate.

The world was turning a darker shade of black. Hope, Love, Care and Empathy were becoming very scarce among humanity, and the gods were too busy squabbling among themselves to even notice.

Circe's poison had even found its way to Olympus and the end was looking certain.

In the far north Odin and Freja looked on in dismay. Humanity did not deserve this. Circe and ÆSnarg had to be brought under control. Humanit, and gods, needed Love and Hope or else all was lost.

Odin and Freja were ready to come to save humanity.

Appendix

The Prompt

Write a story inspired by a work of art. Make the artwork your featured image and give credit to the artist in the caption.

You can read about the challenge fully here.