Scylla: Hideous monster or femme fatale? A case of contradiction between literary and artistic evidence

Abstract

When we look at iconographical representations of various episodes of the Odyssey, we find out that the case of Scylla is quite particular. She is described by Homer (Od.12, 85-100) as an evil monster with twelve feeth and six necks, each one finished in a dog head with a triple row of teeth. But that is not her appearance in iconography. The earliest Greek representations show Scylla as a hybrid creature, half woman and half fish, usually with one or more dog heads around her waist. This paper aims to show that in any case, and with any appearance, it is by her character that we can include Scylla among the series of «dangerous women»; women who, like Circe, Calypso and the Sirens represent that evil charm, that ambiguous danger, both charming and terrible at the same time and which could be fatal to the hero Odysseus.