Scylla and Cariddi were two terrible monsters. Relentless and voracious, they presided over the two shores of the Strait of Messina. In the Odyssey, Homer, tells of the terrible ferocity of Scylla and Charybdis and does so through the story of the sorceress Circe who warns Ulysses about the danger of two monsters. But Scylla and Charybdis were not always monstrous creatures.
Scylla "she who tears apart"
Scylla was a nymph of extraordinary beauty who loved to play the zither,
walking on the beaches of Zancle today's Messina, and bathe in its clear waters. One evening, while he was walking, he saw a strange creature emerge from the sea. It was Glauco, the marine demigod, who fell in love with her as soon as he saw her. The nymph refused the attentions of that strange creature half man and half fish and Glauco, desperate, invoked the help of the sorceress Circe. He asked the sorceress to prepare a magical filter that could make the nymph fall madly in love with him. Circe, who desired him, did not miss this opportunity to offer him her love.
The demigod, however, was completely mesmerized by Scylla's beauty and ignored Circe's offer. It was a very serious mistake, the sorceress did not tolerate the offense and unloaded all her furious jealousy on the unsuspecting Scylla. The sorceress prepared an evil filter which she poured into the waters of Scilla's favorite beach, poisoning them. When Scylla immersed herself in it, she underwent a terrifying transformation. He found himself with a woman's body up to the belly while from the lower part of his body emerged seven serpentine necks that supported as many dog heads. Each dog displayed immense jaws, with three rows of sharp teeth. His skin, first soft and smooth, became covered with rough and shiny scales, and his voice, previously melodious, became horrible. Shocked and terrified Scylla swore revenge, threw herself into the sea and hid in a cave on the Calabrian coast stretching towards Sicily. When Ulysses, who was dear to the sorceress Circe, passed by with his ship, Scylla killed six of his companions and did everything to kill him too. He remained forever a horrible and cruel monster with a heart of stone.
Charybdis "she who sucks"
Charybdis was one nymph, daughter of Poseidon god of the sea and Gaea goddess of the Earth. She was always hungry, extremely greedy and insatiable. One day, he stole some splendid red oxen from Heracles and devoured them immediately and voraciously. Heracles invoked Zeus who threw the nymph into the sea.
Here, her father Poseidon transformed her into a giant snake-like fish. Due to her continuous and uncontrollable voracity, Charybdis remained stationed and hidden. He swallowed and spat the sea water up to three times a day and the violence with which he did so created eddies that sucked the ships into the sea, leaving no escape for the crews. Charybdis is also mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, in fact Ulysses preferred to face Scylla and lose six of his best rowers rather than end up in his jaws.
