a mythical sorceress, daughter of Sol and Perseis, celebrated for her skill in magic and her knowledge of poisonous herbs. She was sister to Eetes king of Colchis, and to Pasiphaë the wife of Minos. She married a Sarmatian prince of Colchis, whom she murdered to obtain the kingdom. She was expelled by her subjects, and carried by her father to an island called Aera, upon the coast of Italy. Ulysses, on his return from the Trojan war, visited her coast; and all his companions, who ran headlong into pleasure and voluptuousness, were changed by Circe's potions into swine. Ulysses, who was fortified against all enchantments by a herb called moly which he had received from Mercury, went to Circe and demanded, sword in hand, the restoration of his companions to their former state. She not only complied, but welcomed the hero with marks of signal favour. In this voluptuous retreat Ulysses had by Circe one son called Telegonus, or according to Hessod, two named Agrius and Latinus. For one whole year Ulysses forgot his glory in Circe's arms. At his departure the nymph advised him to descend to hell, and to consult the seer Tiresias concerning the fates that attended him. Circe also metamorphosed her rival Scylla, and Picus king of the Ausonians.