"When they reached Circe's house they found it built of cut stones, on a site that could be seen from far, in the middle of the forest. There were wild mountain wolves and lions prowling all round it. . they did not attack my men, but wagged their great tails, fawned upon them, and rubbed their noses lovingly against them. Presently they reached the gates of the goddess's house, and as they stood there they could hear Circe within, singing most beautifully as she worked at her loom, making a web so fine, so soft, and of such dazzling colors as no one but a goddess could weave."
Homer's Odyssey, trans. Samuel Butler
(Painting of Circe by Wright Barker, 1889)
