Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy 4.13

“The east wind wafted the sails

that carried on the wandering ships of Ithaca's king

to the island where dwelt the fair goddess Circe,

the sun's own daughter.

There for her new guests she mingled cups bewitched by charms.

Her hand, well skilled in use of herbs,

changed these guests to different forms.

One bears the face of a boar;

another grows like to an African lion with fangs and claws;

this one becomes as a wolf,

and when he thinks to weep, he howls;

that one is an Indian tiger,

though he walks all harmless round about the dwelling-place.

The leader alone, Ulysses, though beset by so many dangers,

was saved from the goddess's bane

by the pity of the winged god, Mercury.

But the sailors had drunk of her cups,

and now had turned from food of corn

to husks and acorns, food of swine.

Nothing is left the same, speech and form are gone;

only the mind remains unchanged,

to bewail their unnatural sufferings.

How weak was that hand, how powerless those magic herbs

that could change the limbs but not the heart!

Within lies the strength of men, hidden in deep security.

Stronger are those dread poisons

that can drag a man out of himself,

that work their way within:

they hurt not the body,

but on the mind their rage inflicts a grievous wound.”

—from Book 4, Poem 3

In Homer’s Odyssey, the sorceress Circe bewitches Odysseus’ crew, and feeds them a sumptuous meal laced with her potions. They are then transformed into swine, and it is only the usual cleverness of Odysseus, with the divine guidance of Hermes, that can free his men from the curse.

“How silly! Aren’t those old stories just delightful?”

Certainly delightful, but hardly silly. People are transformed all the time, sometimes on the outside, and sometimes on the inside. Sometimes the change is shockingly sudden, and sometimes it is so gradual that you will barely notice. Have you never seen a man become a pig, or a snake, or a rat? I have, and there is no way you can tell me that it is just a fairy tale.

Yes, Circe changed the crew’s exterior, their physical appearance, and I am speaking of changing the interior, the content of character. But which of these is actually the more remarkable, that something should simply look different, or that it should actually become different?

I was once quite surprised when I ran into an old acquaintance after many years, to find that he had doubled in weight, and now had completely white hair. At first I did not even recognize him. When we sat down for a bit, however, it was clear that he was still the same witty and charming fellow.

I was deeply terrified, on the other hand, when I realized that someone who had for years been so honest and generous had somehow become deeply deceptive and selfish. There had once been a conscience there, and now there was an empty hole, an absence that was evident in every expression, every word, every deed. This was, for all intents and purposes, a different person, looking the same but living in a totally different way.

People do change, not just on the surface, but also to the core, in radically altering ways. Yes, it’s still Jack or Jill, while no longer the same Jack or Jill. Something has been added to or taken away from their very identity. They have either actualized what is good within them, or they have suppressed what is good and twisted it into something else.

Did Obi Wan Kenobi really lie to Luke Skywalker when he originally told him that Darth Vader had betrayed and murdered his father?

Your father was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view.

And I suppose when Vader rediscovered a love for his son, that good man was reborn, from a certain point of view. Yes, there can be very practical truths found in the most fantastical of stories.

Notice how Lady Philosophy here poetically distinguishes between the transformation of Odysseus’ crew and the far more profound transformation of souls corrupted by vice. In one case, the bodies on the outside are changed, while the human minds on the inside remain, but in the other case the bodies on the outside may stay the same, while the human minds on the inside are cast into something very different. The second runs so much deeper.

People might think it terrible to have their bodies transformed into those of pigs, but I suggest it is far worse to have our souls transformed into those of pigs. What Circe does to the crew is nothing compared to what wicked people do to themselves.

Written in 11/2015