ODYSSEY MAP · STOP 10/14
Where Are Scylla and Charybdis?
Six heads or the whirlpool: there is no passage without loss
Two shores of a narrow strait: on one side the six-headed Scylla waiting in her cliff-den, on the other Charybdis, the whirlpool that swallows and spews the sea three times a day. Circe’s advice is merciless: caught in the whirlpool, you all die; hug Scylla’s rock, give six men, save the rest.
Odysseus straps on his armor and raises his spear anyway — and passes hearing six of his men cry out his name as they are lifted into the air. It is the coldest arithmetic in the epic.
Where is it in the real world?
Since antiquity the pair has been identified with the Strait of Messina between Italy and Sicily. The town of Scilla on the Calabrian shore takes its name from the monster, and the strait’s powerful tidal currents and eddies are counted as the seed of the Charybdis legend.
What awaits you in the game?
You choose which shore to hug and how to cap the losses. Some choices have no “good” outcome: this stop teaches that captaincy is the art of paying costs.
Quick facts
- Position on the route
- 10 / 14
- Previous stop
- The Sirens · 150 nautical miles · ≈ 7 sail days
- Next stop
- Thrinacia · 60 nautical miles · ≈ 9 sail days
- Modern location
- Strait of Messina; Scilla, Calabria, Italy
- Region
- Between Italy and Sicily, Strait of Messina
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