According to John Tzetzes and Servius’ commentary on the Aeneid, Scylla was a beautiful naiad who was claimed by Poseidon, but the jealous Nereid Amphitrite turned her into a terrible monster by poisoning the water of the spring where Scylla would bathe.
Where did the Scylla come from?
Scylla and Charybdis were monsters from Greek mythology thought to inhabit the Straits of Messina, the narrow sea between Sicily and the Italian mainland.
Who was Scylla before she was a monster?
One tradition relates that Scylla originally was a beautiful maiden, who often played with the nymphs of the sea, and was beloved by the marine god Glaucus.
Did Circe create Scylla?
Some versions of Scylla’s myth say she was once a beautiful sea nymph. However, she was transformed by Circe into the monster form. Scylla’s most retold appearance is in Homer’s Odyssey.
Why did Scylla become a monster?
There are a few versions of how Scylla became a monster, but they are all based on jealous. Scylla may have had affairs with multiple sea gods, including Poseidon. In a jealous act, Scylla was bathing when she was turned into the monster by a sea nymph.
What is Scylla based on?
Scylla was a supernatural female creature, with 12 feet and six heads on long snaky necks, each head having a triple row of sharklike teeth, while her loins were girdled by the heads of baying dogs. From her lair in a cave she devoured whatever ventured within reach, including six of Odysseus’s companions.
How did Odysseus get past Scylla and Charybdis?
As they pass the island of the Siren’s the men put wax in their ears and lash Odysseus to the mast and they pass without incident. When they came to Charybdis they carefully sail around the whirlpool, and Scylla grabbed and ate six men. Filled with grief and pity, the men sail away as fast as possible.
Who is Scylla’s mother?
Hecate
Other authors have Hecate as Scylla’s mother. The Hesiodic Megalai Ehoiai gives Hecate and Phorbas as the parents of Scylla, while Acusilaus says that Scylla’s parents were Hecate and Phorkys (so also schol. Odyssey 12.85).
What is Phorcys the god of?
PHORKYS (Phorcys) was the ancient sea-god of the hidden dangers of the deep. He and his wife Keto (Ceto) were also gods of the largest of sea creatures. Keto’s name means “whale” or “sea-monster” and Phorkys’ perhaps means “seal” (phokes in Greek).
Who were the three main furies?
The Roman goddesses of vengeance, the Furies lived in the underworld, where they tortured sinners. The children of Gaea and Uranus, they were usually characterized as three sisters: Alecto (“unceasing”), Tisiphone (“avenging murder”), and Megaera (“grudging”). Their counterparts in Greek mythology are the Erinyes.
How did Scylla turn to stone?
It dropped onto the floor like a stone.” It is the defeat of her enemies: Helios “looked as though he had swallowed a stone, and it choked him,” and Scylla “had turned to stone.”
What was Scylla role in the Odyssey?
Scylla is a six-headed monster who, when ships pass, swallows one sailor for each head. Charybdis is an enormous whirlpool that threatens to swallow the entire ship. As instructed by Circe, Odysseus holds his course tight against the cliffs of Scylla’s lair.
Why was Scylla important in Greek mythology?
In Greek mythology, Scylla represents one of a choice between two evils. As Circe tells Odysseus, Scylla can’t be killed, so the only defense is to run away as quickly as possible in order to limit the damage she is able to do.
What is the moral of Scylla and Charybdis?
The moral: don’t do drugs. Also, beware distraction of any type. As Odysseus sails past, Scylla reaches from her cave to pluck away six of his men—one for each of Scylla’s six heads. Scylla represents sudden tragedy, with which we should learn to deal as well as Odysseus.
Who was Scylla in love with?
Charybdis
Like Charybdis, Scylla had not always been a terror. She was born a nymph — the daughter of Phorcys — but one day Glaucus, a fisherman who had turned into a sea god, fell madly in love with her.
Is Scylla Poseidon’s daughter?
Stesichorus (alone) names Lamia as the mother of Scylla, possibly the Lamia who was the daughter of Poseidon, while according to Gaius Julius Hyginus, Scylla was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna.
Who was Gaia first child?
Uranus
Gaia, the divine personification of the earth, gave birth to three offspring without any sexual concourse. Gaia’s first such child was Uranus, the starry heavens that fit around her perfectly and that provide a home for the immortals.