Charybdis and Scylla are vicious sea monsters from Greek mythology. Charybdis and Scylla were thought to live below rocks in the ocean, though Scylla’s was a much larger rock. The legend was that each creature was stationed on opposing sides of a narrow Strait, making it very difficult for sailors to pass safely. From this, the saying emerged “between Scylla and Charybdis.” Meaning, to be stuck between two equally dangerous and seemingly impossible paths. Here is the history of Charybdis and Scylla.
Charybdis is known to swallow sea water three times a day, and would burp it back up again, which would create a terrifying whirlpool that was known to pull ships underwater. Other stories personified Charybdis as a giant whirlpool, instead of a creature that created them.
Charybdis was the daughter of Posiedon, and helped her father in a fight against his brother Zeus. As punishment, Zeus banished her to the seafloor. In the Odyssey, Odysseus comes face to face with Charybdis and Scylla. He makes the choice to follow orders and avoid Charydis, and crosses the Strait closer to Scylla. Six of Odysseus’s men die from this encounter.
Homer and Ovid mention Crataeis, a river nymph, as the mother of Scylla, though some have written that Hecate actually is her mother. Scylla is described as a six headed man-eating monster. Homer elaborates that she has 12 dangling feet and triple rows of sharp teeth. The legend goes that she was originally a beautiful nymph, in love with a sea god named Glaucus. However, jealousy overtook Circe who transformed her into a monster.
It’s generally believed that geographically, these legendary sea creatures were thought to have dwelled in the Strait of Messina, off the coast of Sicily. Even more specific, there is a giant rock thought to have been Scylla and opposite that rock is an area of the straight known for whirlpools.
The coastal Italian town Scilla actually gets its name from Scylla.
For more on the legends and folklore that set the scene for ocean horror, listen to episodes 140, 141 and 142 of the Lunatics Radio Hour podcast.
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