"‘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
notes
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.
read full essay
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 ἃ: 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.
vocabulary
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