Between Scylla and Charybdis
Scylla and Charybdis are two sea monsters of Greek mythology who were situated on opposite sides of the Strait of Messina between Sicily and Calabria, in Italy. They were located in close enough proximity to each other that they posed an inescapable threat to passing sailors; avoiding Charybdis meant passing too closely to Scylla and vice versa.
Description
Scylla was a creature who lived in a hill, and regularly ate sailors who passed by too closely. Her appearance has varied in classical literature; she was described by Homer in The Odyssey as having six heads perched on long necks along with twelve feet, while in Ovid's Metamorphoses, she was depicted as having the upper body of a nymph, with her midriff composed of dogs' heads. Charybdis had a single gaping mouth that sucked in huge quantities of water and belched them out three times a day, creating whirlpools.
Odysseus was forced to choose which monster to confront while passing through the strait; he opted to pass by Scylla and lose only a few sailors, rather than risk the loss of his entire ship into the whirlpool. Jason and the Argonauts were able to navigate through without incident due to Hera's assistance, while Aeneas was able to bypass the deadly strait altogether.
Media appearances
Movies
Scylla and Charybdis appear in the 1997's Odissey movie by Andrei Konchalovsky and Francis Ford Coppola, when Odysseus (Armand Assante) try the cross the Strait of Messina.
Television
Music
The Police referenced Scylla and Charybdis in their 1983 hit single "Wrapped Around Your Finger" from Synchronicity.[1] Track 2 on the 2008 album Shogun by Metal band Trivium is entitled "Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis". Also, there is a Massachusetts band called Of Blessings and Burdens who had a song called "Between Scylla and Charybdis". Part 6 of the metal band Symphony X's song "The Odyssey"on the album "The Odyssey" is entitled "Scylla And Charybdis". Azita has a song "Scylla and Charybdis" which is on her album "How Will You?".
Radio
The Radio Tales drama "Homer's Odyssey: The Voyage Home" adapts the portion of Homer's epic poem featuring Charybdis and Scylla.
Video Games
In the Nintendo DS role-playing game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, two sectors of space that the player travels to are named Sector Scylla and Sector Charybdis. Later, the player can fight two powerful robots named Scylla and Charyb (short for Charybdis) Also in Breath of Fire 3, the player faces off against Two fiery serpents named Scylla, and Charybdis.
Literary references
between Scylla and Charybdis (1793)
The phrase between Scylla and Charybdis, although infrequently used today, has meant having to choose between two unattractive choices, and is the progenitor of the phrase "between a rock and a hard place."
James Gillray used this metaphor in a caricature published June 3, 1793 and entitled Britannia between Scylla and Charybdis.[2] In it, "William Pitt helms the ship Constitution containing an alarmed Britannia between the rock of democracy (with the liberty cap on its summit) and the whirlpool of arbitrary power (in the shape of an inverted crown), to the distant haven of liberty."[3]
The Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley used Scylla and Charybdis in an analogy of how society is poised between anarchy and despotism in his work, in defence of poetry. The passage reads:
'The rich have become richer, and the poor have become poorer; and the vessel of the state is driven between the Scylla and Charybdis of anarchy and despotism'
H.L.A Hart uses the metaphor to describe the relationship between Formalism and Rule-scepticism in juristic theory.[4]
The phrase is found in the AA "Big Book" on page 175 in "Dr. Bob's Nightmare" originally published in 1939. "Alcoholics Anonymous" 1939, 1955, 1976, 2001. AA World Services.
The phrase found new life in 2008 among journalists reporting on Microsoft's ongoing attempts to acquire Yahoo!. In an April 2008 ResearchRecap article, Christa Quarles of Thomas Weisel Partners was quoted, "Choosing between Microsoft and Google must seem like sailing between Scylla and Charybdis for Yahoo."[5]
On May 1, 2008, All Things Digital columnist Kara Swisher published an online article titled "MicroHoo: Caught Between Scylla and Charybdis," describing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's hesitance in reaching a deal with Yahoo! due to monetary issues. The story was even illustrated with the Henry Fuseli painting Odysseus in front of Scylla and Charybdis.[6]
See also
References
External links
- Odyssey in Ancient Greek and translation from Perseus Project, with hyperlinks to grammatical and mythological commentary
- Greek Myth: the Odyssey