"‘οἱ δὲ δύω σκόπελοι ὁ μὲν οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἱκάνει

ὀξείῃ κορυφῇ, νεφέλη δέ μιν ἀμφιβέβηκε

κυανέη· τὸ μὲν οὔ ποτ᾽ ἐρωεῖ, οὐδέ ποτ᾽ αἴθρη75

κείνου ἔχει κορυφὴν οὔτ᾽ ἐν θέρει οὔτ᾽ ἐν ὀπώρῃ.

οὐδέ κεν ἀμβαίη βροτὸς ἀνὴρ οὐδ᾽ ἐπιβαίη,

οὐδ᾽ εἴ οἱ χεῖρές τε ἐείκοσι καὶ πόδες εἶεν·

πέτρη γὰρ λίς ἐστι, περιξεστῇ ἐικυῖα.

μέσσῳ δ᾽ ἐν σκοπέλῳ ἔστι σπέος ἠεροειδές,80

πρὸς ζόφον εἰς Ἔρεβος τετραμμένον, ᾗ περ ἂν ὑμεῖς

νῆα παρὰ γλαφυρὴν ἰθύνετε, φαίδιμ᾽ Ὀδυσσεῦ.

οὐδέ κεν ἐκ νηὸς γλαφυρῆς αἰζήιος ἀνὴρ

τόξῳ ὀιστεύσας κοῖλον σπέος εἰσαφίκοιτο.

ἔνθα δ᾽ ἐνὶ Σκύλλη ναίει δεινὸν λελακυῖα.85

τῆς ἦ τοι φωνὴ μὲν ὅση σκύλακος νεογιλῆς

γίγνεται, αὐτὴ δ᾽ αὖτε πέλωρ κακόν· οὐδέ κέ τίς μιν

γηθήσειεν ἰδών, οὐδ᾽ εἰ θεὸς ἀντιάσειεν.

τῆς ἦ τοι πόδες εἰσὶ δυώδεκα πάντες ἄωροι,

ἓξ δέ τέ οἱ δειραὶ περιμήκεες, ἐν δὲ ἑκάστῃ90

σμερδαλέη κεφαλή, ἐν δὲ τρίστοιχοι ὀδόντες

πυκνοὶ καὶ θαμέες, πλεῖοι μέλανος θανάτοιο.

μέσση μέν τε κατὰ σπείους κοίλοιο δέδυκεν,

ἔξω δ᾽ ἐξίσχει κεφαλὰς δεινοῖο βερέθρου,

αὐτοῦ δ᾽ ἰχθυάᾳ, σκόπελον περιμαιμώωσα,95

δελφῖνάς τε κύνας τε, καὶ εἴ ποθι μεῖζον ἕλῃσι

κῆτος, ἃ μυρία βόσκει ἀγάστονος Ἀμφιτρίτη.

τῇ δ᾽ οὔ πώ ποτε ναῦται ἀκήριοι εὐχετόωνται

παρφυγέειν σὺν νηί· φέρει δέ τε κρατὶ ἑκάστῳ

φῶτ᾽ ἐξαρπάξασα νεὸς κυανοπρῴροιο.100

τὸν δ᾽ ἕτερον σκόπελον χθαμαλώτερον ὄψει, Ὀδυσσεῦ.

πλησίον ἀλλήλων· καί κεν διοϊστεύσειας.

τῷ δ᾽ ἐν ἐρινεὸς ἔστι μέγας, φύλλοισι τεθηλώς·

τῷ δ᾽ ὕπο δῖα Χάρυβδις ἀναρροιβδεῖ μέλαν ὕδωρ.

τρὶς μὲν γάρ τ᾽ ἀνίησιν ἐπ᾽ ἤματι, τρὶς δ᾽ ἀναροιβδεῖ105

δεινόν· μὴ σύ γε κεῖθι τύχοις, ὅτε ῥοιβδήσειεν·

οὐ γάρ κεν ῥύσαιτό σ᾽ ὑπὲκ κακοῦ οὐδ᾽ Ἐνοσίχθων.

ἀλλὰ μάλα Σκύλλης σκοπέλῳ πεπλημένος ὦκα

νῆα παρὲξ ἐλάαν, ἐπεὶ ἦ πολὺ φέρτερόν ἐστιν

ἓξ ἑτάρους ἐν νηὶ ποθήμεναι ἢ ἅμα πάντας.’110

    Further predictions. Scylla and Charybdis. Circe tells Odysseus he must sacrifice six men to escape Scylla.

    As Odysseus approaches the ultimate test in Ithaka, he encounters challenges that have threatened his return ever since he left Troy, but in a highly concentrated, sometimes symbolic form. Circe’s predictions about Skylla and Charybdis check off most of the boxes: smothering clouds that cut off the sun, a dark cave, amorphous enveloping water, a powerful female force beyond human control. Behind all of these is the threat of complete oblivion, creating the need to sacrifice some of the crew to ensure the survival of the rest.

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    Circe’s description of Skylla and her lair is resonant with telling associations. Like the entrance to Hades, the peaks where Skylla lives in her cave are perpetually dark in all seasons, shrouded by clouds. The epithet for her cave is ἠεροειδές, is used three times elsewhere in the poem of caves, three times with ζόφον, “gloom,” especially the darkness of Hades—as in the verse following—and eleven times of the sea. She is a female πέλωρ, “monster,” like Polyphemus and Circe’s enchanted animals, barks like a dog, waves twelve feet in the air, has six necks, each with its own head, and in the mouth of each holds not one row of teeth, but three, πλεῖοι μέλανος θανάτοιο, “full of black death” (92). She eats fish, large and small, but will gladly gobble up humans, one with each head. The image of enveloping darkness is repeated four times, in the clouds, the cave, her mouths, and finally, in her lower body inside the cave. The unlucky sailors she catches seem to recede further and further into a single devouring darkness, ending in her female genitalia, swallowed up by everything that threatens the male hero. If the sexual overtones of all this imagery were not clear enough, Circe insists that Odysseus could not shoot an arrow into that dark cave (84).

    The name Skylla seems to come from σκύλαξ, “puppy,” and the poet makes the most of this etymology. Though she is an evil monster, Skylla’s bark is like a σκύλακος νεογιλῆς, “new-born puppy,” a particularly creepy juxtaposition. Not only does she devour sailors, but we imagine her doing so with a playful, yipping delight. (Do we also see a faint trace of spiders? All those legs…) Dogs appear frequently in the Odyssey and often reveal something about their masters. Telemachus, when he sets out to discipline the suitors, is accompanied by two dogs:

    οὐκ οἶος, ἅμα τῷ γε δύω κύνες ἀργοὶ ἕποντο.

    (He went) not alone, but two dogs followed with him.

    Odyssey 2.11

    The phrasing here is a variation on a more common motif, when a Homeric man or woman goes out in public, accompanied by two henchmen for the man or two handmaidens for the woman. In either case, the accompaniment signals that the principal is in his/her proper role or status. Men are accompanied when they in their rightful authority, women when they display the proper modesty or chastity. That Telemachus has not men but dogs signals that he is not quite ready to assume the full duties of masculine leadership (cf., 16.62; 20.145). The magical golden dogs outside the Phaeacian royal palace reflect the liminal status of the civilization on Scheria, not quite divine, but removed from the grittier aspects of ordinary human life (7.91). Eumaeus has fierce guard dogs, a projection of his own zealous guarding of his master’s herds (14.21). Finally, there is the splendid Argos, Odysseus’s longsuffering hound, who hangs onto life long enough to be the first to recognize Odysseus in Ithaka, a survivor like his master (17.290–323). Skylla seems to be a grotesque parody of these faithful canine companions. She is like a watchdog, barking when anyone comes too close. Odysseus feeds her but unwillingly, offering six of his crew to make his way past the cave.

    The alternate way forward offers an even more dismal prospect. Charybdis (“the swallower”) belches up “black water” (104) three times a day, then sucks it back down three times. While Skylla comes to life for us in her grotesquerie, flapping feet, snapping mouths, barking like a puppy, Charybdis gets no characterization beyond her function as a kind of divine disposal, embodying economically the essence of fearful female power: dark, suffocating water, sucking sailors down. In any event, Skylla is the lesser of two evils, requiring the sacrifice of only six crewmen, whereas Charybdis will swallow everything, ship, crew, and captain.

     

    Further Reading

    Dimock, G. 1989. The Unity of the Odyssey, 166–170. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.

    Heubeck, A. and A. Hoekstra, eds. 1989. A Commentary on Homer’s Odyssey, vol. II, Books IX–XVI, 122. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Morrison, J. 2003. A Companion to Homer’s Odyssey, 113–114. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

    Reinhardt, K. (1942) 1996. “The Adventures in the Odyssey.” In Reading the Odyssey, edited by S. Schein, 99–102. Reprint. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Van Nortwick, T. 2008. The Unknown Odysseus: Alternate Worlds in Homer’s Odyssey, 68–69. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

     

    73  οἱ …: supply the verb εἰσί.

    73  ὁ μὲν …: “one of which …” (Smyth 1103). Homer is introducing the description of Scylla here. The δ(έ), introducing Charybdis, comes in line 101.

    74  ἀμφιβέβηκε: "surrounds," perfect with pres. meaning (Smyth 1946).

    75  τὸ: the antecedent is probably an implied νέφος, neuter, suggested by the feminine νεφέλη.

    77  κεν ἀμβαίη … οὐδ᾽ ἐπιβαίη, / οὐδ᾽ εἴ …. εἶεν: future less vivid conditional.

    77  ἀμβαίη: "to climb" > ἀναβαίνω.

    77  ἐπιβαίη: "to get to the top of, stand on top of" > επιβαίνω.

    78  οἱ: dative of possession.

    79  περιξεστῇ ἐικυῖα: "like a polished (stone)," understand πέτρῃ.

    81  τετραμμένον: “turned,” “facing,” neut. sing. pf. mid. ptc. > τρέπω.

    81  ἂν … ἰθύνετε: ἄν + subj. (short-vowel subjunctive, Monro 80) in an independent sentence in place of a future (Monro 275b; Smyth 1813).

    82  παρὰ: “past,” adverbial.

    83  κεν … εἰσαφίκοιτο: “could reach (with an arrow),” potential optative.

    85  δεινὸν: adverbial accusative.

    86  ὅση: “as loud as.”

    87  κέ … / γηθήσειεν …, εἰ … ἀντιάσειε: future less vivid conditional.

    88  ἰδών: the participle can be explained in various ways: as apposition ("no one, seeing her..."), as temporal ("when he saw her..."), as conditional ("if he saw her..."), or rel. ("who saw her...").

    89  ἄωροι: the meaning is unknown; Stanford suggests "hanging," or "tentacle-like."

    91  ἐν δὲ: “and inside,” adverbial.

    93  μέσση: “her middle,” “her waist.”

    93  δέδυκεν: “is sunk,” 3rd sing. pf. act. > δύω. The perfect tense denotes a permanent state (Monro 28).

    94  ἔξω … δεινοῖο βερέθρου: “out of…” Scylla's lower body remains inside the cave, but her heads stick out.

    95  ἰχθυάᾳ: “fishes for …, ” 3rd sing. pres. act. indic.

    95  περιμαιμώωσα: fem. nom. sing. pres. act. ptc. > περιμαιμάω.

    96  κύνας: “sea dogs” (possibly seals).

    96  εἴ … μεῖζον ἕλῃσι κῆτος: the protasis of a present general conditional, with ἄν omitted (Smyth 2339). It would be easier to render this as an indefinite, or conditional, relative clause (“whatever larger sea monster she catches”).

    96  ἕλῃσι: 3rd sing. aor. act. subj. > αἱρέω.

    97  : neut. pl., with κῆτος, neuter singular, as its antecedent, since the antecedent implies a class of things.

    98  τῇ: “there.”

    98  εὐχετόωνται: "boast that they ...," indirect discourse, with aorist infinitive (παρφυγέειν > παραφεύγω).

    99  κράτι ἑκάστῳ: dative of means (remember that Scylla has six heads).

    100  νεὸς κυανοπρῴροιο: “out of …,” genitive of separation, governed by the ἐξ- in ἐξαρπάξασα.

    101  Τὸν δ᾽: the long-awaited δέ that pairs with the μέν in line 73.

    101  ὄψει: 2nd sing. fut. mid.  indic. > ὁράω, with active sense.

    102  πλησίον ἀλλήλων: “close to each other” (i.e., Scylla and this second cliff, Charybdis, are close together). πλησίον takes a genitive. Understand εἰσί.

    102  καί κεν διοϊστεύσειας: Scylla and Charybdis as so close together "you could shoot an arrow across" the space between them.

    103  τῷ δ᾽ ἐν: “and on it.”

    103  τεθηλὼς: "growing abundantly," "luxuriant," nom. sing. pf. act. ptc. > θάλλω. The verb only appears as a perfect participle with a present meaning, as here, or in the pluperfect with a past meaning.

    104  τῷ δ᾽ ὕπο: “but below it," anastrophe.

    105  ἀνίησιν: supply ὕδωρ as the object; 3rd sing. pres. act. indic.  > ἀνίημι.

    105  ἐπ᾽ ἤματι: “daily.”

    106  δεινόν: adverbial accusative.

    106  μὴ … τύχοις: optative of wish, with the force of an exhortation or command (Smyth 1814, 1820).

    106  τύχοις: aor. opt. > τυγχάνω. Supply the complementary infinitive εἶναι.

    106  ὅτε ῥοιβδήσειεν: temporal clause referring indefinitely to the future, with optative (Smyth 2399).

    107  κεν ῥύσαιτό: potential optative. Supply an indefinite subject (τις) for ῥύσαιτο.

    107  οὐδ᾽: “not even.”

    108  πεπλημένος: “approaching,” “drawing near to,” with dat. masc. nom. sing. pf. mid. ptc. > πελάζω.

    109  παρὲξ ἐλάαν: “drive past,” “row past,” aor. infin.  > ἐλαύνω, used as an imperative.

    110  ποθήμεναι: “to mourn,” infin. > ποθέω. If Odysseus sails close to Scylla, he’ll lose six men to the monster’s six heads, but if he sails close to Charybdis, the entire ship will be sucked into the whirlpool.

    ἕ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself

    σκόπελος –ου ὁ: a look-out place, a peak, headland

    εὐρύς –εῖα –ύ: broad

    ἱκάνω ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: to come to, arrive at, reach

    κορυφή –ῆς ἡ: head, top, highest point

    νεφέλη –ης ἡ: cloud

    μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself

    ἀμφιβαίνω ἀμφιβήσομαι ἀμφέβην ἀμφιβέβηκα: to surround, go or stand over; to protect

    κυάνεος –α –ον: dark-blue, glossy-blue 75

    ἐρωέω ἐρωήσω ἠρώησα: to draw back, withdraw

    αἴθρη –ης ἡ: clear sky, fair weather

    κορυφή –ῆς ἡ: head, top, highest point

    θέρος –ους τό: summer

    ὀπώρα –ας ἡ: late summer, early autumn

    ἀναβαίνω ἀναβήσομαι ἀνέβην ἀναβέβηκα ––– –––: to board, go up

    βροτός –οῦ ὁ: mortal

    ἐπιβαίνω ἐπιβήσομαι ἐπέβην ἐπιβέβηκα ––– –––: to go on, enter, step up, mount, board (a ship) + gen.

    ἕ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself

    πέτρη –ης ἡ: rock, cliffs, shelf of rock

    λίς ἡ: smooth, shiny

    περιξεστός –ή –όν: polished round about

    σκόπελος –ου ὁ: a look-out place, a peak, headland 80

    σπέος gen. σπείους, dat. σπῆι, pl. dat. σπέσσι and σπήεσσι, τό: a cave, cavern, grotto

    ἠεροειδής –ές: of dark and cloudy look, cloud-streaked

    ζόφος –ου ὁ: darkness; zone of darkness, (as a compass direction) west

    Ἔρεβος –ευς τό: Erebos, personification of darkness in Greek mythology

    ᾗ: which way, whither, why (interrog. part.)

    γλαφῠρός –ά –όν: hollow, deep

    ἰθύνω ἴθυνα ἴθυμμαι ἰθύνθην: to straighten; guide directly, steer

    φαίδιμος –ον: shining

    Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey

    γλαφῠρός –ά –όν: hollow, deep

    αἰζηός –ά –όν: strong, lusty, vigorous

    τόξον –ου τό: bow

    ὀϊστεύω ὀϊστεύσω ὀίστευσα: to shoot arrows

    κοῖλος –η –ον: hollow

    σπέος gen. σπείους, dat. σπῆι, pl. dat. σπέσσι and σπήεσσι, τό: a cave, cavern, grotto

    εἰσαφικνέομαι (Ion. ἐσαπικνέομαι) εἰσαφίξομαι εἰσαφικόμην εἰσαφικόμην: to come into

    Σκύλλη –ης ἡ: Scylla, a cave-dwelling sea monster 85

    ναίω – – – – –: dwell, inhabit, be situated

    λάσκω λακήσομαι ἔλακον λέλακα ––– –––: to ring, rattle, crash; to bark, bay, or howl like a dog

    τοι: let me tell you, surely

    σκύλαξ –ακος ὁ/ἡ: puppy

    νεογιλός –ή –όν: new-born, young

    αὖτε: in turn, moreover, still, again, on the other hand

    πέλωρ τό: a portent, prodigy, monster

    μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself

    γηθέω γηθήσω ἐγήθησα γέγηθα ––– –––: to rejoice, be glad

    ἀντιάω ἀντιάσω ἠντίᾰσα: to meet, encounter

    τοι: let me tell you, surely

    δυώδεκα or δώδεκα: twelve

    ἄωρος –ον: pendulous, misshapen, ugly

    ἕ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself

    δειρή –ῆς ἡ: the neck, throat 90

    περιμήκης –ες: very tall

    σμερδαλέος –α –ον: dreadful

    τρίστοιχος –ον: in three rows

    ὀδούς –οντος ὁ: tooth

    πυκ(ι)νός –ή –όν: thick, bushy, dense; prudent, wise, smart, shrewd

    θαμέες –ω[ν]: crowded, close-set, thick

    πλέως πλέα πλέων: full of, complete

    μέλας μέλαινα μέλαν: black, dark, obscure

    σπέος gen. σπείους, dat. σπῆι, pl. dat. σπέσσι and σπήεσσι, τό: a cave, cavern, grotto

    κοῖλος –η –ον: hollow

    δὐω δύσω έδυσα/ἔδυν δέδυκα δέδυμαι εδύθην: plunge in, go into, sink

    ἐξίσχω/ἐξέχω ἐκσχήσω/ἐξέξω ἐξέσχον ἐξέσχηκα ἐξέσχημαι ἐξεσχέθην: to put forth

    βέρεθρον –ου τό: a gulf, pit

    αὐτοῦ: at the very place, here, there

    ἰχθυάω – – – – –: to fish, angle 95

    σκόπελος –ου ὁ: a look-out place, a peak, headland

    περιμαιμάω περιμαιμήσω περεμαίμησα: to search around

    δελφίς –ῖνος ὁ: the dolphin

    κύων κυνός ὁ/ἡ: dog

    ποθι: anywhere

    κῆτος –ους τό: any sea-monster

    μυρίος –α –ον: numberless, infinite

    βόσκω βοσκήσω ἐβόσκησα βεβόσκηκα βεβόσκημαι ἐβοσκήθην: (act.) to feed; (mid.) to feed oneself; (trans.) to feed someone

    ἀγάστονος –ον: much groaning, howling

    Ἀμφιτρίτη –ης ἡ: Amphitrite, goddess of the sea, personifying the element

    πω: up to this time, yet

    ναύτης –ου ὁ: sailor

    ἀκήριος –ον: unharmed, harmless

    εὐχετάομαι – – – – –: to boast, pray

    παραφεύγω παραφευξοῦμαι/παραφεύξομαι παρέφυγον παραπέφευγα: to flee close past

    κάρη κάρητος: head; peak, summit

    φώς φωτός ὁ: man 100

    ἐξαρπάζω ἐξαρπάξομαι/ἐξαρπάξω/ἐξαρπάσομαι/ἐξαρπάσω ἐξήρπαξα/ἐξήρπασα ἐξήρπακα ἐξήρπαγμαι/ἐξήρπασμαι ἐξηρπάσθην/ἐξηρπάχθην: to snatch away from

    κυανόπρῳρος –ον: with dark-blue prow, dark-prowed

    σκόπελος –ου ὁ: a look-out place, a peak, headland

    χθαμαλός –ή –όν: near the ground, low, flat

    Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey

    πλησίος –α –ον: near

    διοϊστεύω διοϊστεύσω ἐδιοΐστευσα: to shoot an arrow across

    ἐρινεός –οῦ ὁ: the wild fig-tree

    φύλλον –ου τό: a leaf

    θάλλω θαλλήσω ἔθηλα τέθηλα ––– –––: to bloom, abound, to be luxuriant

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

    Χάρυβδις –εως ἡ: Charybdis, the whirlpool opposite Scylla

    ἀναρροιβδέω ἀναρροιβδήσω ἀνερροίβδησα: to suck back down

    μέλας μέλαινα μέλαν: black, dark, obscure

    τρίς: thrice

    ἀνίημι ἀνήσω ἀνῆκα ἀνεῖκα ἀνεῖμαι ἀνείθην: to send up; let go, abate 105

    ἦμαρ –ατος τό: day

    τρίς: thrice

    ἀναρροιβδέω ἀναρροιβδήσω ἀνερροίβδησα: to suck back down

    ἐκεῖθι: there, in that place

    ῥοιβδέω ῥοιβδήσω ἐρροίβδησα: to swallow, suck down

    ῥύομαι ῥύσομαι ἐρρυσάμην ––– ––– ἐρρύσθην: to rescue, save

    ὑπέκ: out from under, from beneath, away from

    ἐνοσίχθων –ονος ὁ: earth-shaker (epithet of Poseidon)

    Σκύλλη –ης ἡ: Scylla, a cave-dwelling sea monster

    σκόπελος –ου ὁ: a look-out place, a peak, headland

    πελάζω πελάσω ἐπέλασα ––– ––– ἐπελάσθην: (trans.) to bring, carry, conduct (to an indicated place); (intrans.) to draw near, approach

    ὦκα: quickly, swiftly, fast

    παρέξ or παρέκ: beyond, past; outside, before; out and away; beside, alongside

    φέρτερος –η –ον: better, braver

    ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion 110

    ποθέω ποθήσω ἐπόθησα πεπὀθηκα πεπόθημαι ἐποθήθην: to desire, to miss

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    Suggested Citation

    Thomas Van Nortwick and Rob Hardy, Homer: Odyssey 5–12. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2024. ISBN: 978-1-947822-17-7 https://dcc.dickinson.edu/homer-odyssey/xii-73-110