Circe

The strongest Titan alive and god of the sun, Helios sided with Zeus during the great war and keeps a tenuous peace with the Olympians, though he is not fully averse to an uprising. Austere, proud, and commanding, Helios tolerates no perceived disrespect—“however gold he shies, do not forget his fire” (6). His children tend to share his golden appearance and gifts of prophecy. His children by Perse become the first witches.

Beautiful and cruel, Pasiphaë is sister to Circe and queen of Crete. Her magic is focused on poisons, though she also curses her husband so that all other women he has sex with die grotesque deaths. To rise to further preeminence, Pasiphaë has sex with a sacred white bull and gives birth to the Minotaur. She is also mother to many mortals, including the kind-hearted dancer Ariadne.

Clever and perceptive, Aeëtes was raised by Circe (his sister) and was her closest companion in youth. However, this does not stop him from leaving when Helios grants him his own kingdom called Colchis. There, he works his magic, achieving powers beyond the abilities of the gods. When he hears of Circe’s transformations, he returns to announce the skills of his siblings and the rise of pharmakeia to demonstrate his own power. He fathers at least two children, including the witch Medea.

Daedalus is a genius inventor serving Pasiphaë and Minos in Crete, unable to leave while they hold his son, Icarus, hostage. He is considered to be “one of the wonders of the mortal world, a craftsman almost equal to a god” (33). An unwitting conspirator in the birth of the Minotaur, he creates a labyrinth to contain it. He finds a kindred spirit in Circe and becomes her lover for a time, giving her a parting gift of a unique loom that she treasures for centuries.

A famous warrior prince known for his involvement in the Trojan War, Odysseus is charming, perceptive, prideful, and volatile. He is a descendant of Hermes and finds his way to Aiaia, where he becomes Circe’s lover and unknowingly fathers a child before returning to his wife and son in Ithaca. Athena is his patron goddess.

The child of Circe and Odysseus, Telegonus is a demigod with captivating charisma and naïve optimism. Sheltered from painful truths and the realities of danger by his mother and her witchcraft, Telegonus is confident in all he does.