Book 12

 

A dangerous whirlpool personified as a female sea monster.

 

Originally considered a sea monster and later rationalized as a whirlpool and considered a

shipping hazard in the Strait of Messina.

 

The two sides of the strait were within an arrow's range of each other—so close that sailors

attempting to avoid

Charybdis would pass too close to Scylla and vice versa.

 

 

The idiom "between Scylla and Charybdis" has come to mean

being between two dangers,

choosing either of which brings harm.