Scylla and Charybdis
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Scylla and Charybdis are two sea monsters of Greek mythology situated on opposite sides of a narrow channel of water, so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis will pass too close to Scylla and vice versa. The phrase "between Scylla and Charybdis" has come to mean being in a state where one is between two dangers and moving away from one will cause you to be in danger from the other, and is believed to be the progenitor of the phrase "between a rock and a hard place". Because Scylla lived on the cliffs and Charydbis was a dangerous whirlpool. Neither fate was more attractive as both were difficult to overcome. Henriette Mertz an American archaeologist proposed in her book "The Wine Dark Sea: Homer's Heroic Epic of the North Atlantic" (1964) that Scylla and Charybdis was in the Bay of Fundy, known to have the greatest difference in water level between its high and low tides in the world. The phrase "Caught Between Scylla and Charybdis" was referenced in the song "Wrapped Around Your Finger" by the musical group, The Police. See also:
Places visited by Odysseus in Odyssey |
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Ismaros - The island of the Lotus-Eaters - The island of Polyphemus - Aiolia - Telepylos - Aeaea |
The Underworld - The Sirens - Scylla and Charybdis - Thrinacia - Ogygia - Scheria - Ithaca |