Scylla and Charybdis
A Deadly Pair of Dangers in Greek Mythology
Scylla and Charybdis were both dangers to sailors in ancient mythology. Scylla was a many-headed monster and Charybdis was a whirlpool. The story probably arose from natural hazards faced by sailors but myths grew up around them until they took on names and personalities of their own.
Scylla and Charybdis as Dangers to Sailors
According to Homer, Ovid and other ancient writers, Scylla and Charybdis faced each other on opposite sides of a narrow strait, often thought to be the straits of Messina between Italy and Sicily. Charybdis was a deadly whirlpool which sucked down passing ships without warning three times a day, and only spewed the remains up hours later. Once sucked down by the whirlpool there was no escape so ships which had to sail through the strait would usually pass by on the other side, risking attack by Scylla.
Scylla was a monster who snapped up sailors with her long-necked dogs' heads. Homer said she was hideous, with six heads and twelve legs, while Ovid said she was a beautiful woman from the waist up but instead of legs she had six dog-heads. Either way, she was very dangerous but if the ship sailed fast she could only take six sailors, unlike Charybdis which could take the whole ship. This is why the witch Circe in the Odyssey tells Odysseus to risk Scylla rather than Charybdis. Sure enough, Odysseus lost six men to the monster.
The Myth of Scylla's Past
Unlike Charybdis, Scylla was given a back-story by later writers. She was said to have originally been a beautiful nymph with many admirers, none of whom she accepted. When the sea god Glaucus fell in love with her and she rejected him, too, he asked the witch Circe for a love potion. Circe was jealous because she wanted Glaucus for herself, but he was only interested in Scylla. Therefore, instead of providing a love potion, Circe poisoned the pool where Scylla always bathed. The lower half of her body which touched the poisoned water was transformed into six ravening dog heads and Scylla became vicious and wild. From then on Scylla sat on the cliff opposite Charybdis and attacked any ship which came close enough.
Scylla in Ancient Art
Although usually mentioned together, Charybdis is not found in ancient art, but Scylla is. She was depicted on (Greek) Megarian bowls and used by the Etruscans to decorate tombs along with other monsters. Later, three Roman emperors used sculptures of Scylla attacking Odysseus' ship to decorate their sea-themed dining caves. Tiberius started the fashion at Sperlonga. The name comes from the Latin spelunca, meaning cave, because his villa there had a large cave in the grounds. Tiberius set up a dining room in the cave and decorated it with scenes from the Odyssey, including a Scylla group, all sculpted in the over-the-top Hellenistic Baroque style. The emperors Hadrian and Domitian later copied Tiberius' idea for their own cave dining rooms at Tivoli and Lake Albana.
Scylla on a Greek krater
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