Circe

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Context

Circe is a goddess of magic or sometimes a nymph, witch, enchantress or sorceress in Greek mythology. By most accounts, she was the daughter of the Titan sun god Helios, and Perse, one of the three thousand Oceanid nymphs. Her brothers were Aeetes, keeper of the Golden Fleece, and Perses. Her sister was Pasiphaë, the wife of King Minos and mother of the Minotaur. Other accounts make her the daughter of Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft. She was often confused with Calypso, due to her shifts in behavior and personality, and the association that both of them had with Odysseus. Circe was renowned for her vast knowledge of potions and herbs. Through the use of these and a magic wand or staff, she transformed her enemies, or those who offended her, into wild beasts

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Language Devices

Another Duffy ironic list. These pigs take some cooking! Note that she uses alliterative, sibillant ’s’s, and plosive ‘b’s and 'p’s. The effect works marvellously in performance when read aloud with suitable contempt.

Duffy produces yet another list, ending with the ‘slit, bulging, vulnerable bag of the balls’. This is a brutal, direct attack on male weakness; in short emasculation

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