Bcylla and Charybdis. - J I 



fina." Strato likewife, after having mentioned Mefllna, proceeds, AetKvurat km Xafi/fSij, 

 /Aiicpov 'srpo rrii -sroAfaf, iv ra tfop^/xa. *' Charybdis is feen in the flrait a little before we reach 

 the city." Several other writers nmight be cited to the fame purpofe. 



From all thefe reafons and hiftorical teftimonies we mufl then conclude that Homer was 

 not exadl with refpe£l to tlie fituation of Charybdis ; nor can it be a great offence to fay, 

 that in this paflage of his long poem he has certainly nodded. The accuracy of feveral of 

 his defcriptions of various places in Sicily cannot be denied. It is fuch that we muft ei- 

 ther fuppofe that he had himfelf travelled in thofe parts, as is the opinion of many ; or at 

 leafl: that he had procured very faithful and circumftantial information from others. Of 

 this the rocks of Scylla are anexample. But, as to the fuppofed whirlpool of Charybdis, 

 and its fituation, I think we may venture to affirm he never faw it himfelf, and that the 

 accounts he had received of it led him into error. 



We will now enquire what foundation there is for the faying, which became pro- 

 verbial, that " he who endeavours to avoid Charybdis daflies upon Scylla ;" and which 

 was applied by the ancients to thofe who, while they fought to Ihun one evil, fell into a 

 worfe. 



On this fubje£l I likewife made enquiries of the Meffinefe pilots abovementloned, and to 

 what better mailers could I apply for the elucidation of fuch a proverb ? 'Ihey told me that 

 this misfortune, though not always, yet frequently happens, unlefs proper meafures are 

 taken in time to prevent it. If a fhip be extricated from the fury of Charybdis, and car- 

 ried by a ftrong foutherly wind along the (trait towards the northern entrance, it will pafs 

 out fafely ; but fhould it meet with a wind in a nearly oppofite diredlion, it would become 

 the fport of both thefe winds,, and, unable to advance or recede, be driven in a middle 

 courfe between their two diredtions, that is to fay, full upon the rock of Scylla, if it be 

 not immediately aflifted by the pilots. They added, that in thefe hurricanes a land wind 

 frequently rifes, which defcends from a narrow pafs in Calabria, and increafes the force 

 with which the fhip is impelled towards the rock. 



Before I began to write on Scylla and Charybdis, I perufed the greater part of the an- 

 cient authors who have written on the fubjett. I obferve that they almoft all reprefent 

 thefe dlfaftrous places in the mofl gloomy and terrifying colours, as continually the fcene 

 of tempefts and fhipwrecks. Thefe terrors and this defl;ru£lion, however, they are far from 

 exhibiting in the prefent times, it rarely happening that any Hiips are loft in this channel, 

 either becaufe their pilots poflefs the knowledge requifite for their prefervation, or becaufe 

 they apply for the neceflary afliftance. Whence then arifes this great difference between an- 

 cient times and the prefent ? Can we fuppofe that Scylla and Charybdis have changed their 

 nature, and become lefs dangerous ? With refpeft to the former,' we have feen that this hy- 

 pothecs is contradided by fadl ; Scylla ftill remaining fuch as it was in the time of Homer : 

 and with regard to the latter, from the Strait of Meffina becoming narrower, Charybdis 

 muft be at prefent more to be feared than formerly, as it is well known that an arm, chan- 

 nel, or ftrait of the fea is the more dangerous in proportion as it is narrow. I am rather of 

 opinion that this difference arifes from the improvement of the art of navigation, which 

 formerly, in its infancy, dared not launch into the open fea, but only creep along the ftiore, 

 as if holding it with its hand. 



Alter 



