Mythful Meanings

In the English language, many meanings come from myths. This blog considers many of those words.

Myths are stories people tell to explain the great mysteries of life, such as birth and death, why the sun rises and sets, and why the moon changes in a predictable pattern.

I decided to start over from the end of the alphabet and work toward the beginning. I have a stack of index cards with information typed on them, all in alphabetical order. When I started this blog, I started at A, because I didn't realize that all the entries would be pushed down.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Charybdis

In Greek myth, Charybdis was a whirlpool caused by a monster sucking in and spitting out water three times a day. Charybdis is paired with Scylla, another evil monster on the other side of a strait. If you sailed away to escape either monster, you were in danger of the other one.

English word: The metaphor of Scylla and Charybdis means being caught between two evils -- "between a rock and a hard place."
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