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Scylla and Charybdis
Scylla and CharybdisTwo equally unpleasant, dangerous, or risky alternatives, where the avoidance of one ensures encountering the harm of the other. Refers to the Greek mythological sea beasts Scylla and Charybdis, which inhabited a sea passage so narrow as to ensure a ship would be forced into the grasp of one or the other. I was between Scylla and Charybdis, for if I didn't take out another loan—and go deeper into debt—I could not pay off the debts I already owed. The police knew with certainty he had drugs in his car, so he became trapped between Scylla and Charybdis: either lie to the police, or admit that the drugs belonged to him.See also: and, Charybdis, ScyllaScylla and Charybdis used to refer to a situation involving two dangers in which an attempt to avoid one increases the risk from the other. literary In classical mythology, Scylla was a female sea monster who devoured sailors when they tried to navigate the narrow channel between her and the whirlpool Charybdis. In later legends, Scylla was a dangerous rock, located on the Italian side of the Strait of Messina, a channel which separates the island of Sicily from the ‘toe’ of Italy.See also: and, Charybdis, Scyllabetween Scylla and CharybdisA choice between two evils. In Homer’s Odyssey (ca. 850 b.c.) the hero must sail a narrow passage between Scylla, a monster on a rock, and Charybdis, a fatal whirlpool. If he avoids one evil, he must run into the other. This situation was repeated figuratively by writers from Virgil to Shaw (Pygmalion, 1912: “It’s a choice between the Skilly of the workhouse and Char Bydis of the middle class”).See also: and, between, Charybdis, ScyllaScylla and Charybdis
Scylla and Charybdisrocks and whirlpool, respectively, opposite each other in the Strait of Messina. [Classical Myth.: Zimmerman, 59, 235–236]See: Danger |