cersei | circe

George R R Martin clearly took some inspiration for the character of Cersei Lannister from the Greek mythological figure Circe. Aside from the obvious connection with their names, there are a few other links between the two characters that will be explored in this post. Circe was an enchantress in a Greek mythology who is often thought to be a witch.

She was the daughter of Helios, the sun god, and Perse, a nymph. The parallels drawn with the sun god are significant in that the first known Lannister, Lann the Clever, was described as having “stolen gold from the sun to brighten his curly hair”, a distinctive and renowned Lannister trait.





Circe’s brothers were Aeetes, keeper of the Golden Fleece (which could potentially be interpreted as the key to winning the Iron Throne, with Daenerys representing Jason in this example):





and Perse, who, interestingly, usurped the old king and killed him.





Circe was renowned for using magic to transform those who offended her into wild beasts.





She was also responsible for the death of her husband, the Prince of Colchis:





In some versions of the mythology, she destroyed her home on the island where she lived after she was punished for her actions:





This home was a beautiful mansion on an island:





and it was reputed to be surrounded by “strangely docile lions and wolves, the drugged victims of her sorcery”, which can obviously be interpreted as a foil for two of the great houses of Westeros, Stark and Lannister.





She was also said to drink from an enchanted cup as she wove her spells around her victims:





These are just a few of the more explicit parallels between the character of Cersei from A Song of Ice and Fire and the renowned figure from Greek mythology, but there are still others, such as their daughters being shipped off to be married and having their champions restored to life after having been killed (in Cersei’s case, this obviously refers to the Mountain).