SHANA JAMES - Hermes Visits Circe I

Hermes Visits Circe I

In this graphite drawing, Hermes Visits Circe I, I depict a moment of quiet interruption — the god descending from the darkness as Circe is unaware, absorbed in her craft. The scene contrasts with an earlier moment in Madeline Miller’s Circe, when the young goddess waits expectantly by the shore for Glaucus, her gaze turned outward in longing. Here, Circe has changed: she no longer waits to be chosen or seen. She is immersed in her own act of creation, her attention grounded in the alchemy of transformation.

Hermes, winged and graceful swoops down, the messenger between worlds, embodying transience and curiosity. He comes as her lover, yet also as a fleeting visitor, never still for long. His arrival disturbs the stillness but not her purpose. Circe’s distant stare and calm focus suggest a woman who has begun to turn inward, no longer defined by desire or anticipation, but immersed in her work.

Through their encounter, I explore a shift in Circe’s story - from waiting to becoming, from yearning to inner strength. Their relationship, tender yet impermanent, mirrors the balance between connection and independence. The myth becomes a reflection on attention, autonomy, and the quiet power of being absorbed in one’s own making, even as Hermes flies down to visit.