Chapter 4

## Events of Chapter 4

1. Circe sees her first human ship. It is nothing like she has seen in paintings.
2. Circe approaches the human and he bows to her, asking her name. Circe tells him her name and asks if he is on a boat. He says yes, and she tells him that she would like to sail upon it. She wades out into the water and pulls herself onto the boat, telling him to proceed.
3. The man flinches and is very stiff with her, until she tells him to be comfortable, for she has scarcely any powers at all and cannot hurt him. They begin to speak of the things around them and the man tells her of his nets, which he took great care with.
4. He was afraid when he heard that Circe's father was Helios, but when the day ended and Helios hadn't done anything to him, he knelt and thanked her for blessing him, because his nets were the fullest that they had ever been. She tells him that she doesn't have such powers, and he asks if he may return, because he has never known such a wondrous thing. She tells him that she will be there.
5. His name is Glaucos, and he visits her every day, telling her of his life. No one has ever confided her this way. She loves to watch him at his daily tasks.
6. Glaucos kneels on the beach to light a fire to cook his lunch. Circe tells him that she met Prometheus once. He is confused, because that story is from more than a dozen generation ago, and he believes that she is his age. She laughs and tells him that she isn't. He jerks away from her, asking how old she is. Seeing his reaction, Circe tells him that it was a stupid joke and that she never met him, that they are the same age. He calms down and finishes his lunch. Circe never speaks of Prometheus to him again.
7. One day, his boat comes late. Glaucos' father has struck him, and there is a dark bruise on his cheek. His father says they will starve because Glaucos' hauls are down. He sails off, telling her that she cannot help him, because she has no powers at all.
8. Circe runs to her grandfather's palace to see her grandmother, Tethys. Circe asks her grandmother to bless Glaucos. Tethys asks what Glaucos has offered her, and she says that he has not offered her anything. Tethys says that they must always offer something, or else they will forget to be grateful. She says that she will, but only if Circe promises not to lie with him, because Helios wants to match her with someone better than some fish-boy. Circe swears.
9. Glaucos comes to Circe, thanking her. The fish have been leaping onto his deck, big as cows. He has paid the levy with credit for next year and his father has been pacified. He kneels before her to thank her, saying that she has saved him, and calling her the blessing of his life. Glaucos says that he wishes he was a god so that he could thank her as she deserves.
10. Circe is sad because she wishes that she could marry him. She realizes that if Glaucos is a mortal, he will grow old and die. Circe runs back to her grandmother, asking her to grant him immortality. She asks if there is some device, bargain, trick, or *pharmaka* that can save him. Tethys grows angry at the word *pharmaka* and sends her away, telling her to never speak of that wickedness again.
11. *I had begun to know what fear was. What could make a god afraid? I knew that answer too.A power greater than their own.*
12. Circe binds her hair in ringlets and puts on her best clothing. She goes to her father's feast where all her uncles are, pouring their wine and and wreathing her arms around their necks, asking them questions of the Titanomachy. She learns where the blood of the gods has been shed.

## Characters Involved

* Circe
* Glaucos
* Tethys

## Characters Mentioned

* Helios
* Aeëtes
* Prometheus
* Oceanos (palace)
* Proteus
* Nereus