Apart from having a very comparable word structure and sounding very similar in certain languages, Scylla and Sicily are also actually connected. First, though, who or what is Scylla? What does it have to do with Sicily? Let’s find out.
What is Scylla?
Scylla, alongside Charybdis, is a legendary sea monster appearing in Greek Mythology. There are two main different narratives on who Scylla was before she was turned into a monstrosity, though they both revolve around the same idea – Scylla was a beautiful woman who someone turned into a sea monster out of jealousy.
In one variant, she was a naiad whom Poseidon looked after, though Amphitrite poisoned the waters she was bathing in which resulted in her transformation. In another, it was the goddess sorceress Circe who poured a potion into the waters in which Scylla was bathing, resulting in the same effect. Scylla became a creature with 12 feet and six dangling heads, each with three rows of teeth.
There are different depictions of Scylla, usually with dog heads around her waist and, sometimes, with a human form on top (though there’s no real artistic consistency of depiction here, it’s Greek mythos afterall). Still, the actual description of Homer in the Odyssey was that Scylla had six heads, three rows of teeth in each and twelve legs.
What does Scylla have to do with Sicily?
Well, Scylla was said to dwell in the Strait of Messina (at least in Virgil’s Aeneid). If you’re not familiar, the Strait of Messina is the spot between Sicily and mainland Italy (Calabria in particular). There’s a town in Calabria called ‘Scilla’ which is said to have gotten its name from Scylla as well. There’s also the minor aspect of depiction – the flag of Sicily depicts a triskeles represented by a three-legged head of Medusa, so both a tip to Greek Mythology and to the idea of slapping more legs on things than they should have.
The death of Scylla
Thankfully, if you’re passing through the Strait of Messina, you needn’t worry about Scylla anymore – she was slain by Heracles, when he was travelling to Sicily.
What does it mean to be between Scylla and Charybdis?
‘Between Scylla and Charybdis’ is an idiom which means that you’re between two dangerous options and you have to choose one. It’s similar to being ‘between a rock and a hard place’ or ‘choosing the lesser evil’. Whatever you do, there’s no easy way out. It has been used frequently in military context.
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