Circe is an ancient, immortal sorceress of incredible power. Over 1,200 years B.C., Circe was a princess of Colchis, but according to her own words, her subjects objected to her killing her weak husband. Driven out of the kingdom, she found refuge on a small island, Aeaea, and began to accumulate considerable magical power--but it was limited to the island. She used the Sirens to lure seafarers to the island, but it was not enough to sate her lust for power. The goddess Hecate would answer her prayers, desiring for Circe to be the instrument of Hecate's own revenge against the Greek gods. She made Circe a proposition: immortality, eternal beauty, and incredible power in exchange for her soul (Hecate's soul would go to Circe). Circe agreed, and after the exchange, Hecate's body was destroyed. But before she died, the goddess made a prophecy: "Upon the death of witch and the birth of witch, Hecate, by name and choice, shall repossess her soul." Circe did not pay much attention to the prophecy at first, elated by her incredible powers. She razed the kingdom of Colchis in a single day and developed the power to turn people into animals. The terror of her name and power quickly spread throughout the ancient world. Circe, driven by Hecate's hatred, fanned the flames of sexual alienation: men and women had always distrusted one another to an extent, she merely fanned such flames, sewing suspicion and betrayal wherever she went. When the Amazons were born, Circe was wary, but Ares assured her that they were his to destroy. The ancient Amazons were brought down by Heracles, and Antiope led half the Amazons against Athens--but the city was not destroyed, as Theseus and Antiope reached a peace--and then were married. Circe found Ariadne, the former wife of Theseus, and used her powers to let the angered queen slip into Antiope's bedroom and murder her as she slept. This would prove one of the key events in the history of the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall: Pythia and her Amazons blamed the murder on Theseus, while Theseus blamed them for the death of Antiope. This is precisely what Circe wanted.
Circe remained on Aeaea for three thousand years, venturing out to cause more chaos and destruction, but by modern times she had all but retreated to the island itself, setting herself up as an eccentric recluse; the island continued to have a bad reputation.
When Wonder Woman made her debut, Circe was distressed to find that some Amazons were still alive. Diana's message of peace reached even the inhabitants of Aeaea, and after some time they began to resent and hate the witch on the island. Even some of her Beastiamorphs turned against her. Circe felt that the time of Hecate's prophecy was close at hand -- Hecate was a moon goddess, as was the goddess Diana. She thus believed that Wonder Woman (Diana) was the second witch of the prophecy, and that if Diana killed her then Hecate's power would manifest in her. But Circe feared killing Diana directly, as that might also fulfill the spell. Thus, Circe decided to capture Diana when she was visiting Greece with some friends and revert her back into the clay and mud from which she was born. Circe's plan would have succeeded if not for the intervention of Hermes, who destroyed her tower and transported the witch away from Wonder Woman and her friends.
