Poem: Between Scylla and Charybdis

Circe warned Ulysses about the twin perils on his journey ahead: Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla, once a sea nymph, was changed by a jealous Circe into a six-headed monster dwelling in a cave high in a rock. As ships passed she would thrust her long necks out from the rock and carry off crew members from the passing vessels. Opposite her was Charybdis, a monster which sucked in and discharged the sea three times a day in a terrible whirlpool. As Ulysses and his crew approached the mosters, the roar of the waters of Charybdis gave warning at a distance, but Scylla could not be seen. As the men watched the dreadful whirlpool, they were not equally on guard to Scylla. The monster suddenly appeared, grabbing six of the men and carrying them away, shrieking, to her den. It was the saddest sight Ulysses had yet seen, to see his friends carried away without being able to help them. The two have become proverbial, denoting a position where the avoidance of one danger exposes one to another danger. Pictured here is Perseus holding the head of Medusa. Medusa, also once a beautiful maiden, was punished by a goddess who changed her hair into serpents and herself into a monster, the sight of which turned all living things to stone. Perseus cut off her head, and from her blood sinking into the earth arose the winged horse Pegasus.

BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS

The poem "Between Scylla and Charybdis" appeared in this column