Our Habits Shape Our Lives at Will, Like Circe’s Potion That Changes Our Nature

Montaigne suggests that everyday habits have the power to transform us profoundly, to the point of altering our “nature”—that is, our way of being, feeling, and acting—without our noticing. They condition us as if enchanting mind and body, changing us slowly and imperceptibly. He uses a mythological analogy to illustrate a power of transformation that is neither rational nor voluntary: it is almost magical, and dangerous.

Circe’s potion

In Greek mythology, especially in Homer’s Odyssey, Circe is an enchantress who lives on the island of Aeaea. When Odysseus and his companions land there during their long journey home from Troy, she welcomes them but offers them an enchanted drink. After drinking it, the sailors are transformed into pigs: the potion’s spell changes their outward form, making them animal-like. With the help of the god Hermes, Odysseus resists the spell and forces Circe to undo it, restoring his companions to human form.

What does Montaigne mean by this comparison?

Montaigne draws on the image of a transforming potion to describe the quiet, shaping force of habit. Just as Odysseus’s companions were transformed without realizing what they were drinking, we too are carried along by custom and become different without noticing—perhaps rougher, more automatic, less critical, perhaps even less human. This criticism recurs throughout the Essays, especially in discussions of the unexamined acceptance of social beliefs and values. For Montaigne, custom is the greatest of teachers, but also the most deceptive: it makes the artificial seem natural and the changeable seem inevitable.

Conclusion

For Montaigne, reflecting on the power of habit is an essential philosophical act. By comparing habit to Circe’s potion, he invites us to notice how social, cultural, and emotional forces subtly and continuously shape us—sometimes dehumanizing or making us brutish, like Odysseus’s companions. He thus proposes the skeptical practice of questioning, hesitating, and suspending judgment as a way to recover our freedom from the automatism of custom.