Charybdis

Charybdis was a sea monster in Greek mythology, best known from Homer’s Odyssey. She lived beneath a rock on one side of a narrow sea passage, opposite the monster Scylla. Three times each day, Charybdis swallowed the waters of the sea and then threw them up again, creating a deadly whirlpool that could destroy any ship that came too close (Odyssey 12.101–107).

Charybdis is usually remembered together with Scylla because sailors had to pass between them. To avoid Charybdis meant sailing closer to Scylla, while avoiding Scylla meant sailing closer to the whirlpool. Odysseus faced this terrible choice during his journey home from the Trojan War.

Who Was Charybdis?

The Whirlpool Monster

Homer gives Charybdis no body or face. In the Odyssey she is shown only through what she does: she sucks down the black water beneath a great fig tree and belches it forth, three times a day (Odyssey 12.101–106). When she vomits the water up, it seethes like a cauldron on a great fire, and the spray falls on the tops of the rocks on both sides; when she sucks it down again, the water turns round and round inside her and the bottom shows black with sand (Odyssey 12.237–243). Homer calls her “divine” and “dread”. Later authors keep this picture: in Virgil she draws the waves down into her abyss and flings them up to the stars (Aeneid 3.420–423).

Charybdis and Scylla

Charybdis lived across from Scylla. Circe describes Scylla as a monster with twelve feet and six long necks, each with a head, hidden to the middle in a cave, who snatches a man from every ship that passes (Odyssey 12.80–100). The two cliffs are so close together that an arrow could be shot from one to the other, and the lower cliff, with the fig tree on it, is Charybdis’ (Odyssey 12.101–104).

A Threat to Ships

Charybdis was especially feared because she could destroy an entire ship. Circe says that if Odysseus is there when she sucks the water down, “no one could save you from ruin, no, not the Earth-shaker”, that is, not Poseidon (Odyssey 12.107–110). Scylla killed men one by one, which is why Circe tells him it is better to mourn six comrades than to lose all together (Odyssey 12.109–110).

Family and Origins

Homer does not name her parents or say where she came from, and neither does Hesiod. The parentage and origin stories sometimes repeated for her come from late commentators, not from the early poets.

Daughter of Poseidon and Gaia

A parentage of Poseidon and Gaia is given for Charybdis by late commentators. It is not found in Homer, Hesiod, Apollonius, Apollodorus, Virgil or Strabo, so it cannot be confirmed from the ancient texts. Poseidon himself figures in the Odyssey only as the god who could not save a man caught by her (Odyssey 12.107–108).

Charybdis and Zeus

Zeus appears in her story in Homer, but not as her punisher. After the crew of Odysseus ate the cattle of Helios, Zeus struck their ship with a thunderbolt (Odyssey 12.403–419). A story that Charybdis once stole cattle from Heracles and was thrown into the sea by Zeus is told only by late commentators and is not found in any of the sources listed below.

A Monster of Endless Hunger

In the Odyssey she devours the water and anything that goes with it: the keel and mast of Odysseus’ wrecked ship are swallowed, and she gives them up only after a long time (Odyssey 12.431–444). In the Aeneid she is called “pitiless” (Aeneid 3.420).

Charybdis in the Odyssey

Circe’s Warning

Before Odysseus sailed past Scylla and Charybdis, Circe warned him about both monsters. She told him that Charybdis swallowed the sea three times a day and threw it up again three times, and that he must not be there when she swallowed it (Odyssey 12.101–110). When Odysseus asked whether he could escape Charybdis and still keep Scylla off his men, Circe told him that he was always looking for a fight, and that he could not fight Scylla: she was not mortal but an immortal evil, and his only course was to row past her as quickly as possible and call on Cratais, her mother, to keep her from attacking again (Odyssey 12.111–126).

The Choice Between Two Dangers

Circe advised Odysseus to sail close to Scylla’s cliff rather than Charybdis (Odyssey 12.108–110). This was not because Scylla was safe, but because Charybdis could destroy the entire ship. Odysseus had to choose the lesser disaster: losing some men to Scylla instead of losing everyone to the whirlpool.

Passing the Monsters

When Odysseus and his crew reached the narrow passage, the men were terrified by Charybdis. Odysseus told the helmsman to hug the rock, but did not tell the crew about Scylla, since they would have stopped rowing; and, against Circe’s instructions, he put on his armour and stood in the bows to look for her (Odyssey 12.201–229). While all were watching the sea sucked down and thrown up, Scylla pounced and seized six of his best men (Odyssey 12.244–259). Odysseus escaped Charybdis in this first passage, but the cost was terrible.

Odysseus Returns to Charybdis

The Shipwreck After Thrinacia

After leaving the island of Thrinacia, Odysseus’ crew was punished for killing the cattle of Helios. Zeus struck their ship with a thunderbolt, and all of Odysseus’ remaining men died. Odysseus alone survived, lashing together the keel and the mast of the broken ship with an ox-hide backstay (Odyssey 12.403–425); he recalls the passage of Charybdis again when he tells Penelope his story (Odyssey 23.327–328).

The Raft and the Whirlpool

After the West Wind dropped, the South Wind then carried Odysseus back toward Scylla and Charybdis through the night. This time, he had no ship and no crew. At sunrise he reached the cliff of Scylla and the whirlpool, and Charybdis was sucking down the sea. Odysseus sprang up and caught hold of the tall fig tree, where he clung “like a bat”; his feet could find no support, and its branches were out of reach above (Odyssey 12.426–437).

Odysseus Escapes Again

Odysseus clung to the fig tree until Charybdis threw the keel and mast back up again, at the hour when a man rises from the assembly for his supper. He let go, dropped down onto the timbers, sat on them and rowed on with his hands. Zeus did not allow Scylla to see him again, or he would not have escaped (Odyssey 12.437–446). After nine days of drifting the gods brought him on the tenth night to Ogygia, where Calypso lived (Odyssey 12.447–450). The Epitome of Apollodorus summarises the episode in the same way (Epitome 7.23).

Charybdis and Scylla

Two Different Sea Monsters

Charybdis and Scylla are often named together, but they are different kinds of monsters. Scylla is a creature with six heads who attacks from a cave (Odyssey 12.80–100). Charybdis is a swallowing force of the sea, understood as a monstrous whirlpool. Apollodorus describes them as two cliffs, with Scylla in one of them and Charybdis in the other, who three times a day drew up the water and spouted it again (Epitome 7.20–21).

The Meaning of the Pair

The phrase “between Scylla and Charybdis” came to mean being trapped between two dangers. It describes a situation where avoiding one problem pushes someone toward another. In the Odyssey, this is a real choice that Odysseus must make.

Why Charybdis Was More Dangerous to the Ship

Scylla killed six men, but Charybdis could have killed everyone. This is why Circe told Odysseus to keep to Scylla’s side and drive past her quickly (Odyssey 12.108–110).

Charybdis in Other Myths

The Argonauts

Charybdis was also known in stories of the Argonauts. In Apollonius’ Argonautica, Hera tells Thetis that the Argo has to pass the Wandering Rocks and the rock of Scylla and Charybdis “horribly belching”, and asks her to guide the ship; Thetis calls her sister Nereids, and they play round the ship while she guides it past the rocks (Argonautica 4.783–790, 4.920–935). Apollodorus also has the Argo meeting Charybdis, Scylla and the Wandering Rocks after the Sirens (Library 1.9.25).

Aeneas and the Trojans

Charybdis also appears in Roman tradition, especially in the story of Aeneas. The seer Helenus warns the Trojans to fear both Scylla and Charybdis, and tells them to sail round the coast of Sicily rather than through the strait (Aeneid 3.410–432). When their ships come near, Anchises sees the whirlpool and urges the men to row hard away (Aeneid 3.558–569).

The Strait of Messina

Later writers placed the monsters at the Strait of Messina, between Sicily and southern Italy. Thucydides says that the strait between Rhegium and Messana is the Charybdis through which Odysseus is said to have sailed (Thucydides 4.24.5). Strabo describes Charybdis as a deep whirlpool near Messana, into which ships were drawn by the currents of the strait (Geography 6.2.3).

Charybdis’ Role and Symbolism

The Sea as a Devouring Force

Charybdis is not a monster that speaks, bargains or fights. In Homer she only swallows and gives back the water of the sea, and the poem describes the sight in detail, the black sand at the bottom and the roar as the water breaks against the rocks (Odyssey 12.237–243).

The Danger of Total Loss

In the Odyssey, Charybdis threatens the ship itself. Odysseus can pass Scylla at the price of six men, but if he were caught by Charybdis, even Poseidon could not save him (Odyssey 12.107–110).

A Test of Leadership

The passage between Scylla and Charybdis forces Odysseus into a cruel choice. He follows Circe’s advice to hug Scylla’s side, knowing that some men will die. He does not tell the crew about Scylla, because they would stop rowing, and he tells the Phaeacians so himself afterwards (Odyssey 12.223–225).

Misconceptions and Lesser-Known Facts

Charybdis Was Not the Same as Scylla

Charybdis and Scylla are sometimes confused because they are almost always mentioned together. Charybdis was the whirlpool, while Scylla was the six-headed creature who snatched sailors from ships.

Charybdis Did Not Kill Odysseus’ Six Men

The six sailors were taken by Scylla, not Charybdis (Odyssey 12.244–259). Charybdis threatened to destroy the whole ship, but during the first passage Odysseus avoided her.

Odysseus Faced Charybdis Twice

Odysseus faced Charybdis once while sailing with his crew and again after Zeus destroyed his ship. The second time, he survived by clinging to a fig tree above the whirlpool (Odyssey 12.426–446).

Charybdis Was Sometimes Given a Divine Family

Homer describes Charybdis only as a sea danger. The family and history that later commentators gave her, a parentage from Poseidon and Gaia and a punishment by Zeus, are not in the early poets and cannot be confirmed from the ancient texts.

Unraveling Charybdis: The Monster That Swallowed the Sea

Charybdis is one of the most powerful images of danger in Greek mythology. Homer gives her no face and no speech, only the sea sucked down and thrown up again. Her role in the Odyssey is tied to Odysseus’ choices: he avoids her at first by sailing near Scylla, and later is dragged back to her alone after the loss of his crew. In the Aeneid and the Argonautica other heroes also have to pass her strait.

Charybdis Sources

Charybdis appears most famously in Homer’s Odyssey, especially Book 12 (101–126, 201–259, 403–450), where Circe warns Odysseus about Scylla and Charybdis, and where Odysseus later survives the whirlpool by clinging to a fig tree. Other sources used are the Odyssey 23.327–328, Apollonius’ Argonautica (4.783–790, 4.920–935), Apollodorus’ Library (1.9.25) and Epitome (7.20–23), Virgil’s Aeneid (3.410–432, 3.558–569), Thucydides (4.24.5) and Strabo (Geography 6.2.3).

See Also: Odysseus, Scylla, Circe, Poseidon, Gaia, Zeus, Helios, Calypso, Sirens, Ithaca