Scylla and Charybdis

Henry Fuseli's Romance painting of Odysseus facing the choice between Scylla and Charybdis.

Scylla and Charybdis are two sea monsters of Greek mythology who were said to be situated on opposite sides of the Strait of Messina between Sicily and Calabria, in Italy. They were said to be located close enough to each other that they posed an inescapable threat to passing sailors; avoiding Charybdis meant passing too closely to Scylla and vice versa.

Description

Scylla was said to be a creature who lived in a hill, and regularly ate sailors who passed by too closely. Her appearance has varied in classical literature; she was described by Homer in The Odyssey as having six heads perched on long necks along with twelve feet, while in Ovid's Metamorphoses, she was depicted as having the upper body of a nymph, with her midriff composed of dogs' heads. Charybdis was depicted with a single gaping mouth that sucked in huge quantities of water and belched them out three times a day, creating whirlpools.

According to myth, Odysseus was forced to choose which monster to confront while passing through the strait; he opted to pass by Scylla and lose only a few sailors, rather than risk the loss of his entire ship into the whirlpool. Jason and the Argonauts were able to navigate through without incident due to Hera's assistance, while Aeneas was able to bypass the deadly strait altogether.

Metaphorical use

James Gillray, Britannia
between Scylla and Charybdis (1793)

The phrase between Scylla and Charybdis, although infrequently used today, has meant having to choose between two unattractive choices, and is the progenitor of the phrase "between a rock and a hard place." Scylla and Charybdis figure among the figures of Greek mythology in popular culture.

See also

• Catch-22
• Dilemma
• Hobson's choice
• Morton's Fork
• Between a Rock and a Hard Place
• Trivium (band)

References

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Odyssey

Wikisource has original text related to this article: ΟΔΥΣΣΕΙΑ

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Odyssey

Look up between Scylla and Charybdis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Odyssey in Ancient Greek and translation from Perseus Project, with hyperlinks to grammatical and mythological commentary
• Greek Myth: the Odyssey