A beautiful sea nymph beloved by Glaucus, who she rejected, in his despair
it occurred to him to consult the enchantress Circe. To which Circe replied,
"if she scorns you scorn her; meet one who is ready to meet you half way,
and thus make a due return to both at once." To these words Glaucus replied,
Sooner shall trees grow at the bottom of the ocean, and sea-weed on the
top of mountains, than I will cease to love Scylla, and her alone." The
enchantress was indignant, but she could not punish him, neither did she
wish to do so, for she liked him too much; so she turned all her wrath
against her rival, poor Scylla. She took plants of poisonous powers and
mixed them together, with incarnations and charms. Then she passed through
the crowd of gambolling beasts, the victims of her art, and proceeded to
the coast of Sicily, where Scylla lived. There was a little bay on the
shore to which Scylla used to resort, in the heat of the day, to breathe
the air of the sea, and to bathe in its waters. Here the enchantess poured
her poisonous mixture, and muttered over it incantations of mighty power.
Scylla came as usual and plunged into the water up to her waist. What was
her horror to perceive a brood of serpents and barking monsters surrounding
her! She tried to run from them, and to drive them away; but as she ran
she carried them with her, and when she tried to touch her limbs, she found
her hands touch only the yawning jaws of monsters. Scylla remained rooted
to the spot. Her temper grew as ugly as her form, and she took pleasure
in devouring hapless sea mariners who came within her reach. Finally she
was turned into a rock, and as such still contiues to be a terror to mariners.
Glaucus was a fisherman just finishing a long day at the shore. He placed all his fish on the grass in a meadow when the strangest thing began to happen, all the fish began jumping and moving toward the sea. Glaucus was amazed so he picked up grass from the meadow and ate it. The grass made him want to go into the sea. He dove in and was greeted kindly by the sea creatures. Glaucus was turned into a God with green hair and a mermaid body.
One day in his travels through the sea, Glaucus saw a beautiful maiden, Scylla, on the shore and fell in love with her. He approached her trying to profess his love, but Scylla shrieked at the sight of him.
Glaucus heart was broken, but he did not lose hope. He went to Circe for help, but Circe fell in love with him. She agreed to help him, but she was lying. When she went to Scylla instead of making her fall in love with Glaucus, Circe turned Scylla into a hideous monster with serpents and dog heads growing out of her body. She stood rooted to a rock in her misery, hating and destroying all in her reach.
Scylla --- Larry Reed, 1967
* In Greek mythology, the rock from which the
sirens sang.
On misty mornings, the sleepy summer sun Glistens the face, then climbs as I; I can feel the moist rock, the rope, but there's no one near by, I'm alone with three: sun, cliff, and sky. Cinnamon lichen crisply crackles And yields to a hold-hungry finger, Ragged pine, pitched outward, points to leeward - speaks - And I must linger. Higher in the day, my eyes sweep out and down And hover, gazing at plains Lush, in summer's simmer As they recover from yesterday's rains. Rugged rock, ragged pine, and view of plain - They call to me now, while I'm alone - But I am book-buried, bound to home, and must, for a while, remain. When it's Spring once more and the Sirens' Sound Reaches my Soul, then I will go - because they beckon - and I will leave my books, I reckon, And go to the place which I have found.