Glaucus was in despair, but it occurred to him to consult the
enchantress Circe. Accordingly he repaired to her island—the same where
afterwards Ulysses landed, as we shall see in one of our later stories.
After mutual salutations, he said, “Goddess, I entreat your pity; you
alone can relieve the pain I suffer. The power of herbs I know as well
as any one, for it is to them I owe my change of form. I love Scylla. I
am ashamed to tell you how I have sued and promised to her, and how
scornfully she has treated me. I beseech you to use your incantations,
or potent herbs, if they are more prevailing, not to cure me of my
love,—for that I do not wish,—but to make her share it and yield me a
like return.” To which Circe replied, for she was not insensible to the
attractions of the sea-green deity, “You had better pursue a willing
object; you are worthy to be sought, instead of having to seek in vain.
Be not diffident, know your own worth. I protest to you that even I,
goddess though I be, and learned in the virtues of plants and spells,
should not know how to refuse you. 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 the mountains, than I
will cease to love Scylla, and her alone.”
The goddess was indignant, but she could not punish him, neither did she
wish to do so, for she liked him too well; so she turned all her wrath
against her rival, poor Scylla. She took plants of poisonous powers and
mixed them together, with incantations 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
goddess 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! At first she could not imagine they
were a part of herself, and 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 mariners who came
within her grasp. Thus she destroyed six of the companions of Ulysses,
and tried to wreck the ships of Æneas, till at last she was turned into
a rock, and as such still continues to be a terror to mariners.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account