When was scylla born

The Strait of Messina is the narrow passage of water that flows between Sicily and the Italian mainland. At its narrowest point the Strait is about 3km across. The current of water flowing between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Ionian Sea does cause a small whirlpool to form, although the whirlpool is not large enough to be a danger to shipping.

Generally speaking there were more deities associated with water in Ancient Greece, and also there were more monsters associated with it as well. For Ancient Greeks water was of course vital, but open areas of water were also highly dangerous, and the creation of monsters helped to personify these dangers. I crossed the Strait of Messina the first time in a ferry and then in a fishing boat. I wanted to experience the journey of Ulysses but, sadly, it's just a little stretch of water today without a fearsome creature in sight.

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A word for both a dog and a type of shark, the similar sound may have inspired writers and artists to show Scylla with dog heads and legs. Scylla fit many of the standard tropes of a monster in Greek mythology. She was half human, had multiple heads, had a serpentine tail, and possessed canine characteristics.

While her form was initially inspired by a small and harmless creature, over time the description grew to fit the type of monster the Greeks expected their heroes to face. Monsters in Greek mythology were not always given origin stories. When they were, it was usually to connect them back to other myths.

Scylla was no different. There were many different versions of how the monster came to be, all linking her back to different legends. Phorcus, for example, was also given as the father of monsters such as the Gorgons and Echidna. By the Classical period and into the Roman era, it was common for many monsters to have much more complicated origin stories than those generally given in earlier Greek writings.

Often these include the transformation of a beautiful young woman by a jealous or angry goddess. Ovid included her in his Metamorphosis as a river nymph. According to the Roman writer, Scylla had the face of a beautiful young girl because that was what she had once been. Many men and gods loved Scylla, but she rejected them all. Eventually, she caught the eye of the sea-god Glaucus, but he too was turned away. Instead, Circe confessed her own love for the god. She begged him to abandon his unrequited love for the nymph and be with her instead.

Circe was enraged. She loved Glaucus too much to hurt him, however, so she took her anger out on Scylla instead. Circe used her magic to cast a deforming spell on the nymph.

Scylla transformed into a monster while she waded at the edge of the sea. Believing she was being attacked by a monster, she fled. When she reached the cave in the narrow strait she realized that she was not being attacked by a monster, but was becoming one herself. She stayed there forever. The god mourned for the lost beauty of Scylla. Scylla vowed to take the first chance she could to have some measure of revenge on Circe. Monsters in Greek mythology typically ended their stories in one of two ways — they were either killed by a great hero or simply faded out of the story once their part had been played.

Early Greek writings mentioned Scylla during the voyages of famous ships, but said little about what happened to the monster after the ship had passed. It was assumed that she remained in her narrow channel with Charybdis, still preying on passing ships and sea creatures. This addition to the traditional story claimed that Heracles passed through the channel where Scylla lived while on a voyage to Sicily.

While Odysseus and Jason had not dared to fight the dreadful monster, Heracles was strong enough to slay her. Her father, Phorcus in this version, applied flaming torches to her body to resurrect her.

Virgil and others named her along with other legendary monsters as guardians of the gates of the underworld. Scylla was a monster that haunted the sea and, like most monsters in Greek mythology, seems to have at one time represented a very real danger. The hazards of the world, including those of the ocean, were often portrayed in mythology as monsters or beasts. These creatures embodied natural phenomena that were harmful or deadly to humans. Scylla most likely represented the jagged rocks that protruded from the side of the Strait of Messina.

Other sources say that she was originally a beautiful young woman or a naiad who was transformed into a monster as the result of a curse. The desperate Glaucus turns to Circe for help, asking for a love potion. This romantic strategy proves to be most unfortunate for Scylla, because Circe falls in love with Glaucus herself.

When she is unable to woo Glaucus away from his passion for Scylla, Circe becomes enraged. She poisons Scylla with a magical potion that transforms her into a monster, and Scylla flees to the rocks where she later encounters Odysseus and his crew. In Greek mythology, Scylla represents one of a choice between two evils.

As deadly as Scylla is, however, she is still the lesser of the two evils in these tales. She is the danger that must be braved in order to avoid certain destruction by Charybdis.