Charybdis
In Greek mythology, Charybdis, or Kharybdis ("sucker down"), is a sea monster, daughter of Poseidon and Gaia, who swallows huge amounts of water three times a day and then spouts it back out again, forming an enormous whirlpool. She lay on one side of a narrow channel of water.
On the other side of the strait was Scylla, another sea-monster. The two sides of the strait are within an arrow's range of each other, so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis will pass too close to Scylla and vice versa.
The Argonauts were able to avoid both dangers because they were guided by Thetis, one of the Nereids. Odysseus was not so fortunate; he chose to risk Scylla at the cost of some of his crew rather than lose the whole ship to Charybdis.
Traditionally location of Charybdis has been associated with the Strait of Messina off the coast of Sicily, opposite the rock called Scylla. The whirlpool there is caused by the meeting of currents, but is seldom dangerous. Recently scholars have looked again at the location and suggested this association was a misidentification and that a more likely origin for the story could be found near Cape Skilla in north west Greece.
Charybdis was originally a sea-nymph who flooded her father's kingdom, the sea, until Zeus turned her into a monster.
Referenced By
Earth Mother | Enosichthon | Famous pairs | Gaia (mythology) | Gilbert schema for Ulysses | Greek god | Greek gods | HMS Charybdis | James Joyce/Ulysses | Jason | Jason and the Argonauts | Linati schema for Ulysses | List of Greek mythological characters | List of famous pairs | List of fictional species by type | List of mythological pairs | Monster | Monsters | Neptune (god) | Neptune (mythology) | Neptune Equester | Nohbdy | Noman | Odysseos | Odysseus | Odysseus Laertiades | Odysseus Laertides | Odysseus Laërtiadês | Odysseus Laërtidês | Odyssey | Phorcides | Phorcydes | Planctae | Poseidon | Poseidon (mythology) | Poseidon Enosichthon | Quarrelman | Scilla | Scylla | Sea monster | Skilla | Skylla | Strait of Messina | Straits of Messina | The Odyssey | Ulysses (novel) | Ulysses (novel)/Penelope | Ulysseys | Walter of Chatillon | Whirlpool
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