The Odessey

Scylla and Charybdis

Odysseus's POV

We returned to Aeaea to burn Elpenor's body. That was his wish. The next morning, Cire sent us on our way, with good advice and a following breeze. She also warned me about the dangers that lay on our route, and I informed the crew of all but one. " First," she told me, " you will come near the island of the sirens, whose sweet song lures sailors to certain doom.

" You must plug your crew's ears with beeswax and tell them not to row on without stopping. But if you wish to hear their song. She glanced at him, knowing that he'll do just that. " tell you men to tie you firmly to the mast of the ship. If you cry out for release, they must only bind you tighter."

We had gotten to the island of the sirens. I was tied up to the mast. All I could hear was their sweet singing. Longing to go nearer. Hold them in my arms like my sweet Pene-.....Penelope. Oh, I miss her so much. Odysseus starts to cry as the crew rows away from the melodic voices of song.

" After you pass the sirens, you will have to make a choice. You will come in sight of an unbroken line of jagged cliffs, where the sea rages on sharp rocks. Steer well clear of this, for no ship that approaches can avoid being wrecked." Pulling through those rocks, you will have to go between a steep, mist-shrouded mountain and a headland. On that you will see an olive tree growing, below it is the mouth of Charybdis. Three times each day the sea is swallowed down into the pit, then vomits out a steaming geyser. Surely if you go that way, your ship will be crumpled, torn up, not even you and your crew would make it out alive."

" If you take the other way, you will come across Her. She is Scylla, the six-headed monster who lives in a cave high up on that rocky cliff. Even with the longest range of the arrow, she could not be hit. With her long necks. That right necks, six of them. Her necks reach down all the way to the sea to snap up dolphins and in this case humans who swim below.

As I learned this knowledge. Circe had said that Charybdis swallows three times a day right. Maybe we could go through it when it's not time for the whole to swallow right? He thought.

It was nightfall, the sun setting and I had a bad feeling that this was the last time it was going to swallow. But we had to take this chance otherwise we'd never get through. As we get closer I feel the boat moving abnormally towards the whole. " Men row! Row away! Go around it!!" I saw as the whole was opening wider. My eyes grow wide as we are starting to fall into Charybdis. All of a sudden I hear a " ROARR!agh" I look up quickly to see Scylla the six-headed beast! She looked threatened waiting till we got closer to snap us whole. Half the ship was eaten, I looked everywhere for something that could help us. " Guys hold onto me! I'm gonna jump to that tree branch!" At this point only three of my men have survived. They all did as they were told.

Oy, I didn't realize how heavy they were. Luckily the top end of the ship was close to the Olive tree. 1..2.....3.....JUMP! Odysseus jumped onto the tree. Now hanging, the rest of the ship sunk into Charybdis. I tried my hardest to pull us up. I felt weight being tugged down on me. Someone was falling! " Hold on! Come on! We can– argh we can do this!" I yelled at them. I finally got myself onto the ground. As soon as I thought everyone was on land. One of the men was dangling from the branch, only half there. I look up seeing Scylla, one of the six heads with blood all over her face. She looked at us deadpanned. We decided to take a run for it!

Since we had no boat. We cut down trees to make one.. Soon enough we made a boat and set out to sea once again. It had been a day and we finally made it to another land. Just me and a few crewmen. We had made it to the land of the sun god Helios, where he keeps his divine cattle, tended by immortal nymphs. As Odyssesus prayed alone on the cliff. His few conrads argued with each other about food.....

            "Thenisias, please! We're starving, I know you are! Come on! Let's just hunt one. Odysseus won't even notice with all the random crap he does up on that hill! He will be there for a while." I'm not sure about this Unamus, I have bad feeling..."

All of a sudden the fire I had created just stopped. There was no wind to blow it away either.. Then I realized. NO! The cattle. " O cruel gods!"

Later on we set back out to sea, the winds turned, no sooner was the island out of sight behind us that giant thunderheads began to mass overhead, and the sun was nowhere to be seen. In a moment, squalls hit us from the west, so powerful that the mast snapped and crashed down in the stern, killing one of my men, leaving one crew member and me. Then in the same breath, Zeus let loose his lightning bolt. ChCHhchc!!BANG. I clung to a chunk of the keel, and when part of the mast floated by, I was able to pull it in and bind it fast. I then heard screams coming from my last man on my ship. High up in the air, floating around. Then a lighting bolt electrocuted him right there and then. I shook my head and rode the " raft" as the winds aged through the night, they gradually made me go back towards Scylla and Charybdis.

I swam around for nine days before the gods drafted me towards Ogygia, the island and home of the nymph Calypso, Atlas's daughter.

Posted 1/23/22