Why Christopher Nolan turned Circe into a vindictive witch

Nolan's Circe, played by Samantha Morton, is more like a fairy-tale witch than an ancient goddess. Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures I’ve taught “The Odyssey” to college students for over a decade, including in a course on witches in Western culture. I suspect my students would immediately notice that the Circe in Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey” is a departure from the one who appears in Homer’s ancient poem. Homer’s Circe is an immortal goddess, desirable and beguiling. In…