Charybdis was an avaricious woman, who, stealing from Hercules, was slain
by him, and became one of the divinities of the sea.
Scylla, daughter of Hecate and of Phorcys, was a beautiful nymph, greatly
beloved by Glaucus, also one of the deities of the sea. Scylla scorned his
addresses, and the God, to render her propitious, sought the aid of Circe,
who no sooner saw him than she became enamoured, and, instead of assisting
him, tried to win his love to herself tho' in vain. To punish her rival,
Circe poured the juice of poisonous herbs into the waters of the fountain
where Scylla bathed, and no sooner had the nymph entered, than her body,
below the {148} waist, was changed into frightful monsters, like dogs,
which never ceased barking, while the remainder of her form assumed an
equally hideous appearance, being supported by twelve feet, with six
different heads, each bearing three rows of teeth. This sudden metamorphose
so alarmed her, that she threw herself into that part of the sea which
separates the coast of Italy and Sicily, where she was changed into rocks
which continue to bear her name, and which were deemed as dangerous to
sailors, as the whirlpool of Charybdis, on the coast of Sicily, and from
which has arisen the proverb, "By avoiding Charybdis we fall upon Scylla!"
"Upon the beech a winding bay there lies,
Sheltered from seas, and shaded from the skies;
This station Scylla chose; a soft retreat
From chilling winds and raging cancer's heat.
The vengeful sorceress visits this recess,
Her charm infuses, and infects the place.
Soon as the nymph wades in, her nether parts
Turn into dogs, then at herself she starts.
A ghastly horror in her eyes appears
But yet she knows not what it is she fears,
In vain she offers from herself to run,
And drag's about her what she strives to shun.
"Oppressed with grief the pitying god appears,
And swells the rising surges with his tears;
From the detested sorceress he flies,
Her art reviles, and her address denies,
Whilst happless Scylla, changed to rocks, decrees
Destruction to those barks that beat the seas."