20 Scylla and CJjarytclis. 



a dorm, convince me that he had not a juft idea of it, but fatisfied himfelf with the old 

 tradition concerning Charybdis. 



It may be obferved, that the fituation of Charybdis, as it has been hitherto defcribed, 

 does not exaftly agree with that afligned it by Homer. Let us refer to the poet. The 

 goddcfs Circe gives the following diredtions to Ulyfles, with refpedt to the navigation of 

 tlic Strait of Meffina : 



'Oi St Svw iTKOiteMt, 'o ^iv ovpayov eii^vv ikolvsi' . . . 



Toy S" itepoy (TKMBXoy/J^a.u^aKujrEfw 0']i&i OS'jircrsv, 



IlAijcriov aXXr^Xuiv, y.M Kiv Siois-e^CB^cc;. 



TtjU S'sv spnso; sari fj-Eyix,; ^uAokti te&tjXuji, 



Tw J' vTto Siec Xa^ufJif arapfoi^hi ^sAav vSuip, HoM. Odyfl". XII. 



High o'er the main two rocks exalt their brow ... 



Clofe by, a rock, of lefs enormous height 



Breaks the wild waves, and forms a dangerous ftreight; 



Full on its crown a fig's green branches rife. 



And (hoot a leafy foreft to the Ikies: 



Beneath, Charybdis holds her boifterous reign 



'Midft roaring whirlpools, and abforbs the main. Pope. 



The firfl: of the rocks here mentioned by Homer is Scylla, which he defcribes at length j 

 and near the other, according to this poet, Charybdis is fituated. The diftance from one 

 of thefe rocks to the other is an arrow's flight, xai xtv Jioirwtreiflts, which does not at all 

 accord with the prefent fituation of Scylla. How are we to explain this difagreement ? 

 Shall we fay that Homer, availing himfelf of the licence in which poets are indulged, has 

 fpoken hyperbolically .'' I know not whether the connoifleurs in poetry will permit fuch a 

 licence. Or fliall we fuppofe that Charybdis was once much nearer to Scylla ; but that in 

 a long feries of ages it has changed its place, and removed under Mefllna ? Such a fuggeftion 

 might, perhaps, be favourably received, if in remote times any confiderable change had 

 taken place in the Strait : but we know not of any ; and it is not probable, that a change 

 fo remarkable as the removal of Charybdis from its place would have been pafled over in 

 Clence by Sicilian writers. Within the prefent century, it is true, this Strait, of which fo 

 much has been faid, has become narrower 5 but at the fame time we know, that long 

 before this event Charybdis was fituated where it is at prefent. The ancient and un- 

 interrupted tradition of the MelTmefe fefpefting this fail is confirmed by the authority of 

 the moft celebrated Italian, Latin, and Greek writers. Fazello tells us, " Charybdis ex 

 parte Sicilise paulo fupra Meflanam." " Charybdis is fituated on the fide of Sicily, a little 

 beyond Meffina." — Ovid fays, 



" Hinc ego dum muter, vel me Zanclasa Charybdis 

 " Devorct !'' 



" Let dire Charybdis in Zanclsean feas, 

 " Devour me if I change !" 



And it is well known that Zancle was the ancient name of Meffana, now Me/Tina. 

 Tzetzes in Lycophron fays, "H Xajvf 3ij mpi Mmni^ in. *' Charybdis is fituated near Mef- 

 fina." 



