Scylla is a legendary sea monster in Greek mythology. She had a keto tail and dog heads emerging from her body. She lived on one side of a narrow water channel, opposite Charybdis who is also a monster.
The two were revered by sailors who tried to avoid them. However, the proximity of the two sides of the trait made it very difficult.
This led linguists to coin the term “between Scylla and Charybdis”, meaning being forced to settle between two dangerous situations.
Scylla’s Parentage
Scylla’s parentage is somewhat a mystery, with many scholars conflicted on the identity of her actual parents. One fraction composed of Homer, Apollodorus, and Ovid purport that Crataeis is Scylla’s mother.
Her father is an even bigger mystery that Apollodorus puts forward as Triton or Phorkys. Others suggested that her mother might have been Hecate and her father Phorkys. All these figures alleged to be her father reportedly have a sea connection.
Theories on Scylla’s Metamorphosis into The Sea-Monster
Ovid’s Metamorphosis
Scylla was not always a sea monster, feared by all men who crossed the channel. In the beginning, she was a beautiful nymph who loved to play with the other nymphs of the sea.
The marine god Glaucus greatly loved her. He professed his love to her but she got repulsed by his piscine form. She fled to a place where he could not follow in order to get away from him.
Glaucus’ love for her did not in the least wane. He still yearned for her. His quest for her love turned out to be her greatest undoing.
Glaucus sought help from Circe to help him get the attention of Scylla. Little did he know that Circe was in love with him. Thus, she was jealous of Scylla. So, instead of helping Glaucus make Scylla fall in love with him, she did the worst.
She put herbs in the well which Scylla usually bathed in which caused her body to morph into what is now known as the sea monster (the upper part of her body remained intact while her lower body became a tail similar to a serpent and the emergence of dog heads).
Endymion
According to John Keats in Endymion Book 3, Scylla was not transformed by Circe into a hideous monster. Instead, she died. Glaucus found her lifeless body.
Then he did to it only what a lover would: he took it to the crystal palace at the bottom of the sea where the bodies of all lovers who met their demise at sea were.
You can only imagine how pained Glaucus was with having to lay the love of his life to rest. Fortunately, Endymion brought her back to life a thousand years later. She reunited with Glaucus.
John Tzetze
John Tzetze was a byzantine poet who offered some insight on Scylla during his commentary on the Aeneid. According to him, Scylla was a beautiful nymph whom Poseidon loved.
However, his wife and queen of the sea, Amphitrite, was not having it. She was incredibly jealous of Scylla and sought to put a stop to her husband’s attention on the beautiful nymph.
She did so by poisoning the water in the spring which Scylla bathed which turned her into the sea monster she came to be known as.
Eustathius’ Commentary
During a trip to Sicily, Heracles (the son of Zeus) came across Scylla on the channel. He, unlike many travelers before him, did not simply resign to his fate.
He killed her. Her father was greatly saddened by this. Being a sea god, he used flaming torches on her body to bring her back to life.
Odysseus
In Homer’s Odyssey, the King of Ithaca, Odysseus, was faced with a tough choice. He was to pass through the narrow channel along which Scylla and Charybdis resided.
He had it on good authority (Circe) that his best bet would be Scylla, for she would only eat six of his men and leave his ship while Charybdis would destroy it in its entirety.
His whole crew would obviously not be spared. Circe also told him to beseech Scylla’s mother, Crataeis, to not take more than the six men.
He eventually settled on sailing closer to Scylla. He was able to safely navigate his ship past the strait. However, he and his men got momentarily distracted by Charybdis. That is when she got her window of opportunity and struck, taking six of his men. She ate them all alive.
Meaning of Scylla in Greek Mythology
Jealousy
Jealousy is the root of all evil. Jealous people, depending on the degree of their jealousy, can do almost anything to have whatever it is that they covet.
This is very clear in the story of Scylla. Glaucus fell in love with Scylla but she was not receptive. When he sought the help of Circe, he had no idea that she was in love with him and that his advances toward Scylla made her jealous.
Well, it soon became as clear as day when Circe put in Scylla’s bath water a potion that transformed her into a most hideous monster. She was condemned to a life of terrorizing and consuming sailors all because of Circe’s jealousy.
This just goes to show how strong feelings of jealousy can be. You should try to put yours under control so as not to harm others.
The same sentiments go for Amphitrite, the wife of Zeus, whom some believe was the one who turned Scylla into a sea monster.
Fatherly Love
Fathers often take a backseat in the upbringing of their children. It does not in any way mean that they do not care because they do. It simply means that they are just not as involved.
In some rare cases, fathers show their love to their children in the grandest of ways. This was the case with Scylla’s father, Phorkys.
After she was killed by Hercules, he brought her back to life using flaming torches on her body. Can fatherly love get any grander than this? Scylla was truly lucky to have such a father.
Symbolism of Scylla Greek Mythology
Compromise
Sailors passing through the narrow channel where Scylla and Charybdis resided had a tough choice to make. There was no in-between.
You either chose to sail closer to Scylla and lose some men or sail closer to Charybdis who would destroy the ship in its entirety.
Thus, they had to make a compromise that must have been hard to do so. Odysseus chose to lose six of his men to Scylla.
It shows that sometimes when faced with a tough situation, a compromise might be the only way to go. Compromising is not easy but you have to just so you can survive or escape a situation.
Malice
The story of the mythological creature Scylla is symbolic of malice. Oftentimes, people assume that others have not only their best interests at heart but also would not do anything to harm them.
Sadly, this is not always the case. Glaucus found himself cheated out of the love of his life by Circe who all along had malicious intentions.
Instead of helping him win over Scylla, she condemned her to a horrific destiny as a sea monster. If Glaucus had even imagined that this is how it would go down, he probably would not have sought Circe’s help.
True Love
True love is the love that weathers all; age, sickness, financial turmoil, and even death. In John Keat’s book the Endymion, a version of the Scylla Greek mythology is introduced whereby she dies instead of transforming into a monster.
Even in death, Glaucus still loves her and takes her body to the crystal palace at the bottom of the sea which is meant for all lovers who met their demise at sea.
This is despite the fact that she had turned him down due to her dislike for his piscine form. A thousand years later, they are reunited which goes to show that no matter what, true love endures and always wins.
Salvation
Scylla reigned with terror over the narrow channel together with Charybdis for a very long time. Sailors were forced to choose between the two of them, both dangerous. Little did she know that this would not be the case forever.
When Hercules the son of Zeus passed through, he was not about to conform to the practice of compromise that sailors were so accustomed to.
He killed her and ended her heinous reign over the rocks near the channel. This was something akin to salvation which it symbolizes.
Conclusion
The story of Scylla has various theories on how they arrived at her fate of a sea monster or how she ended up in the end. Nevertheless, one thing stands out in all the theories and it is evil intentions.
Whichever card life or destiny dealt her with that was detrimental to her, an evil person was behind. Other major takeaways from the various theories were true love and salvation when the sailors were rid of her terror thanks to Hercules.
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