C17th etching of Odysseus’ ship evading the sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, by Theodor van Thulden |
Scylla and Charybdis
Mythological sea monsters that imperilled passing ships
Scylla and Charybdis, a sea monster and a whirlpool, faced each other across the strait of Messina. Mariners wishing to cross the strait had to steer towards whichever hazard they feared the least.
Scylla
Scylla was a sea monster with twelve feet, six heads (on long snaking necks, each with three rows of shark-like teeth), and dog-like creatures barking incessantly around her waist.
She lived in a cave, devouring whatever came within her reach, including six of Odysseus’s crewmen.
In one story Scylla was initially a beautiful nymph. When she rejected the advances of the sea-god Glaucus, he asked Circe for a love potion to win Scylla’s heart. But Circe fell in love with Glaucus herself and when he rejected her she took revenge on the object of his affection. Circe poured a powerful poison into the pool where Scylla bathed, turning the beautiful nymph into a hideous sea-monster. Distraught and vengeful, Scylla sought to destroy everything within her reach.
Charybdis
Charybdis was the personification of a whirlpool. Three times a day she drank the waters down and belched them up again.
She nearly drowned Odysseus, but he managed to cling to a tree for many hours until a raft that she had swallowed floated to the surface again.