“Of Sirens the voices, and of Circe the cups thou hast known: Which if, with companions, anyone foolish and eager had drunk, Under a shameless mistress he has become base and witless, Has lived as a dog unclean, or a sow in friendship with mire.” Circe and Ulysses are also briefly treated of in _The Golden Emblems_ of Nicholas Reusner, with Stimmer’s plates, 1591, sign ~C. v.~ Bellua dira libido _Pulcra facit Circe meretrix excordia corda: Fortis Vlyſseâ, qui ſapit, arte domat._ ~Ins Bieh verzäubert Circe vil, Schlägt hurn von sich, mer weiß sein will.~ Reusner (edition 1581, p. 134), assuming that “Slothfulness is the wicked Siren,” builds much upon Virgil and Horace, as may be seen from the epithets he employs. We give only a portion of his Elegiacs, and the English of them first,— “Through various chances, through so many dangerous things, While again and again the Ithacan pursues the long ways: The voices of Sirens, and of Circe the kingdoms he forsakes: Nor does the bland Atlantis his journey retard. But as Circe to his companions supplies the potations foul, Witless and shameless this becomes a sow and that a dog.” Improba Siren deſidia. _EMBLEMA XXIV._ _Ad Vuolfgangum, & Carolum Rechlingeros, Patr. Auguſtanos._ [Illustration: _Reusner, 1581._] P_Er varios caſus, per tot diſcrimina rerum, Dum longas Ithacus itque, reditque vias: Sirenum voces, & Circes regna relinquit: Blanda nec Atlantis tunc remoratur iter. At ſocijs Circe dum pocula fœda miniſtrat: Excors, & turpis ſus fit hic, ille canis._ Now, Shakespeare’s allusions to Circe are only two. The _first_, in the _Comedy of Errors_ (act v. sc. 1, l. 269, vol. i. p. 455), when all appears in inextricable confusion, and Antipholus of Ephesus demands justice because of his supposed wrongs. The Duke Solinus in his perplexity says,— “Why what an intricate impeach is this! I think you all have drunk of Circe’s cup.” The _second_, in _1 Henry VI._ (act v. sc. 3, l. 30, vol. v. p. 86). On fighting hand to hand with the Maid of Orleans, and taking her prisoner, the Duke of York, almost like a dastard, reproaches and exults over her noble nature,— “Damsel of France I think, I have you fast: Unchain your spirits now with spelling charms And try if they can gain you liberty. A goodly prize, fit for the devil’s grace! See, how the ugly witch doth bend her brows, As if, with Circe, she would change my shape!”