Scylla

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MythologyBefore ChristGreek Antiquity — the age of the great founding myths

A sea monster of Greek mythology, Scylla was a nymph transformed into a six-headed creature by the sorceress Circe. She devours sailors from her rock in the Strait of Messina, forcing Odysseus to choose between her and the whirlpool Charybdis.

Key Facts

Scylla is described in Homer's Odyssey (Book XII) as a monster with six heads and twelve legs
She devours six of Odysseus's companions as he passes through the Strait of Messina
According to some traditions, she was once a beautiful nymph transformed into a monster by Circe, who was jealous of Glaucus's love for her
Her name is associated with the Strait of Messina, between Sicily and Italy, a place of real danger for ancient seafarers
The expression 'between Scylla and Charybdis' still refers today to a choice between two equally dreadful perils

Works & Achievements

Odyssey (Book XII) (c. 750–700 BCE)

The foundational text describing Odysseus's passage between Scylla and Charybdis. It is the primary source of the myth: Homer paints a detailed portrait of the creature and the terrible decision Odysseus must make.

Metamorphoses (Books XIII–XIV) (8 CE)

Ovid develops the story of Scylla's transformation by Circe, who is jealous of Glaucus's love for her. This romantic and tragic version left a deep mark on the Western literary tradition.

Aeneid (Book III) (c. 29–19 BCE)

Virgil revisits the motif of the passage between Scylla and Charybdis during Aeneas's voyage fleeing Troy. The episode confirms the myth's popularity in Rome and its integration into the great Latin epic tradition.

Argonautica (Book IV) — Apollonius of Rhodes (c. 270 BCE)

The Argonauts led by Jason also sail near Scylla, guided by the goddess Thetis and the Nereids. This version shows that the myth existed independently of Odysseus and circulated across several heroic cycles.

Library of Greek Mythology — Apollodorus (1st–2nd century CE)

Compiling Greek myths, Apollodorus synthesizes the various versions of the Scylla myth and places her within the genealogy of sea monsters in Greek mythology, linking her to Phorcys and Crataeis.

Black- and Red-Figure Pottery (Ancient Greece) (5th–4th century BCE)

Numerous Greek amphorae and cups depict Scylla as a half-woman, half-dog creature surrounding her waist. These images are invaluable iconographic sources for understanding how the Greeks visualized the monster.

Anecdotes

Scylla was not always a monster: in the most widespread version, she was a beautiful sea nymph. The sorceress Circe, in love with the sea god Glaucus who only had eyes for Scylla, poured poison into the spring where the nymph bathed. Upon touching the poisoned water, Scylla was transformed into a terrifying creature with six howling dog heads and twelve feet.

Scylla occupied a sheer rock in the Strait of Messina, facing the whirlpool Charybdis. Three times a day, Charybdis swallowed and spat back the waters of the sea, threatening to suck in any passing ship. Greek sailors said it was better to lose a few men to Scylla's teeth than to risk an entire crew being swallowed by Charybdis — this is the classic dilemma of 'the lesser evil'.

On his voyage home from Troy, Odysseus was warned by the sorceress Circe about both dangers. He chose to sail close to Scylla rather than Charybdis, losing six of his best companions, snatched one by one by the creature's six jaws. Homer describes their dying cries as the most harrowing sound Odysseus ever heard, and the hero admits he never fully recovered from it.

The expression 'to fall from Charybdis into Scylla' — the equivalent of 'out of the frying pan, into the fire' — perfectly captures the impossible dilemma these two monsters posed for ancient sailors: whichever path they chose, deadly danger awaited them.

In Ovid's Metamorphoses, another version of the myth tells that it was Amphitrite, wife of Poseidon, jealous of Scylla's beauty, who cast the poison into the sea to disfigure her. This variant shows how Greek myths circulated and evolved from one author to another, with each poet adapting the story to their own vision of the gods and of jealousy.

Primary Sources

Odyssey, Book XII — Homer (c. 750–700 BCE)

There, in her cave, she yelped with a shrill voice, like the cry of a young hound. Her twelve feet dangled in the void, and her six enormous necks bore as many hideous heads, each armed with three rows of teeth, set close and dark as death.

Metamorphoses, Book XIV — Ovid (c. 8 CE)

Circe poured into the spring harmful and baneful herbs, blending into it juices drawn from roots of mysterious power, and over them chanted an incantation of nine hundred verses in a dark tongue. Scylla came to the spot, and had barely waded in up to her waist when she saw barking monsters surrounding her flanks.

Aeneid, Book III — Virgil (c. 29–19 BCE)

On the right looms Scylla, on the left insatiable Charybdis. Three times she sucks the vast waves down into her deep abyss, three times she spews them up toward the stars, and her spray lashes the heavens.

Library of Mythology — Apollodorus (1st–2nd century CE)

Scylla, who was a woman from the waist up, had in place of thighs six heads of terrifying dogs. She dwelt upon a rock and seized men from passing ships.

Homeric Hymns (to Pythian Apollo) (7th–6th century BCE)

The sea monsters guarding the straits are a sign that the gods watch over the passages between the known world and the lands of the beyond.

Key Places

Strait of Messina (Stretto di Messina)

A maritime passage between Sicily and Calabria, identified since antiquity as the setting of the myth of Scylla and Charybdis. The powerful currents and natural whirlpools that form there most likely inspired the legend.

Scilla (Calabria, Italy)

A small coastal town in Calabria whose name comes directly from the myth. A rocky promontory jutting into the sea is still identified as Scylla's rock, and the town has made it the emblem of its local identity.

Aeaea (Island of Circe, Circeo, Lazio)

The legendary island where the sorceress Circe lived, identified with Monte Circeo on the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy. It was here, according to the myth, that the curse was cast which transformed Scylla into a monster.

Tyrrhenian Sea

The body of water between the Italian peninsula, Sicily, and Sardinia, and the main setting for Odysseus's voyages. Scylla symbolically guarded its southern entrance, representing the boundary between known waters and the unknown sea beyond.

Troy (Hisarlik, Turkey)

The city where Odysseus's long journey home began, providing the narrative backdrop of the Odyssey. Without the Trojan War and Odysseus's forced voyage by sea, his encounter with Scylla would never have taken place.