Creature

Scylla

Many-headed sea monster haunting one side of a narrow strait.

MythWeave AI-generated editorial illustration, portrait v2

Overview

Scylla inhabits a cave high in the strait's cliff and extends six long necks, each head taking one person. Circe advises Odysseus to pass near her rather than risk the whole ship in Charybdis and explicitly tells him not to stop and fight, since he cannot prevent another attack. Odysseus withholds the full warning from his crew so they will not abandon their oars in panic. He arms himself, yet can only watch as six companions are seized. The episode joins the tactical idea of a smaller loss to the ethical question of who bears that cost, offering no clean victory.

Key facts

One man for each head

Odyssey Book 12

Scylla takes six crewmen from the ship; vessel and survivors pass through the strait, but the cost is shown as individual human loss.

Circe advises against fighting

Delay would let Scylla strike with all six heads again; the navigational strategy is rapid passage, not heroic combat.

Threat on the return strait

After Circe, Argo passes the dangerous waters of Scylla, Charybdis and the Wandering Rocks.

Relationships

Odysseusattacks crew
Scylla snatches six companions from the passing ship.
Argonaut Expeditionthreatens the return
Scylla’s strait is one of the hazards crossed after Circe.

Story appearances

The Odyssey HomecomingSea monster who takes six crewmen
Avoiding Charybdis brings the ship within Scylla's reach, at the cost of six men.
The ArgonautsScylla in the Argonaut expedition
Scylla enters this story through the Argonaut expedition; other versions are handled where their own episodes call for them.

Ancient sources

MythWeave distinguishes ancient-source evidence from later adaptations and modern interpretation.

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