Introduction
At some point, we usually face situations where we have to choose between Scylla, i.e. medium loss and Charybdis, i.e. maximum loss. Both types of losses leave a negative impact on your mental and emotional health and sadness prevails in your mind.
I would like to share the Scylla and Charybdis experiences and how we can tackle this situation.
Story of Scylla
Scylla was once a beautiful sea nymph. A sea god named Glaucus fell in love with her but out of her arrogance and pride (about her beauty) she rejected him. She displayed a sense of entitlement and princess syndrome.
Who was Circe in the story of Scylla?
Circe is the daughter of the sun god Helios. She is also a powerful sorceress.
Glaucus asked Circe for the love potion. Circe fell in love with Glaucus and developed a feeling of jealousy for Scylla.
Circe poured poison into the pool where Scylla used to bathe, due to which Scylla turned into a shrieking monster which had six long necks containing three rows of sharp teeth and a ring of barking dogs which encircled its waist.
Story of Charybdis
She was the daughter of Poseidon, the god of the sea and Gaia, the goddess of the earth. She aided her father in flooding lands during a feud with Zeus. Zeus then struck her with a thunderbolt and chained her to the ocean floor. He cursed her with an insatiable thirst.
Scylla and Charybdis encounters before Odysseus
Aeneas: In Virgil's Aeneid, Prophet Helenus warned Aeneas and his crew to completely avoid the narrow strait and row the long way around Sicily to escape the twin monsters.
Jason and the Argonauts: When they were on their return journey, they navigated the strait successfully as the goddess Hera arranged for Thetis and the Nereids to guide and give protection to their ship through the most difficult passage.
Odysseus's encounter with Scylla and Charybdis
Scylla and Charybdis lived on opposite sides of a narrow water channel. Odysseus must sail his ship through the narrow strait between them.
Witch Circe told Odysseus that he could not fight these monsters and advised him to sail closer to Scylla. If he chooses Charybdis, then the whole ship and all men will face death. If he chooses Scylla, then only six men will die- one for each of her heads. Odysseus follows her advice, loses his six crew members and thus saves the rest of his crew.
What does "between Scylla and Charybdis" mean?
This means being trapped between two bad options where every choice leads to loss. Life throws two choices at us and forces us to choose one out of two choices where we cannot avoid the losses.
Now, talking about the examples
There are examples where we face the situation based on the idiom "between Scylla and Charybdis". These are:
Once upon a time, there was a man named Mr. E. He was working in a company named XYZ. He was working there with sincerity and honesty but due to a toxic work culture and office politics, he was looking for a good opportunity that would provide him with a better job with a handsome salary and financial stability. Then one day while he was searching for a job on the internet, he saw there was an opportunity for a job in UVW which was an MLM company. They claimed that the earnings would be Rs.100,000 per month. Mr. E resigned from that job and joined the MLM company. There were unrealistic targets, like reaching a target of Rs.1 crore within a week. Mr. E got pressured and his health started declining due to the workload. After six months, due to low earnings and a nervous breakdown, he had to resign from that MLM company and suffered a huge loss. It was his luck that XYZ company again needed him and appointed him for the post in XYZ company.
There was a man named Mr. J. He was working as a contractual pharmacist in a government dispensary of UVWX. There, he dispensed medicines and maintained a stock of medicines. Due to a toxic work culture and office politics and sometimes due to frequent schooling by his boss (office politics) he remained upset and decided to find an opportunity so that he could leave the job. Then one day while surfing on the internet, he came across a job opportunity from the IJK chemist shop. It stated that the salary was Rs.60,000 per month. Then Mr. J decided to leave his previous job and join the IJK chemist shop. There, he was given the target of earning Rs.20,000 every day and if he could not achieve the target, he was insulted. After four months, he left the job at the IJK chemist shop and suffered a loss. It was his luck that he joined a digital marketing agency with his friend and earned a handsome amount of money.
Lockdowns during the pandemic:
Governments managing the pandemic must weigh two terrible outcomes. If they impose strict lockdowns, it will stop the spread of the virus and save lives but it will cause great losses to small businesses and harm the mental health of the public. Opening society keeps the economy alive and intact but deaths and hospitalizations will increase.
Inflation vs unemployment: Central banks trying to fix an economy face a strict trade-off. Raising interest rates will help fight inflation but it will cause a severe recession and job losses. Lowering interest rates supports employment, but it will risk spinning inflation completely out of control.
During aggressive cancer treatment: If a mild dose of chemotherapy is employed, then the chemotherapy will fail to kill the aggressive tumor, thus allowing the cancer to spread and prove fatal. If a heavy dose of chemotherapy is employed, then the patient's healthy organs, immune system and quality of life will be destroyed.
During handling of aggressive foreign dictatorships by nation-states: If early demands are met in order to prevent an immediate devastating war, then the aggressor will later demand more out of greed. If a preventative military strike is launched to stop the aggressor, then the massive, catastrophic casualties and global conflict will be triggered.
During political elections: Voters often feel trapped between two polarizing parties. If they support one party, then they will risk radical economic disruption. If they support another party, then they will risk entrenching corrupt status quo stagnation.
If mobile companies do not update their mobiles, then these companies will get outdated and get expelled from the market. If mobile companies take the risk of updating their mobiles, then there will be temporary glitches, screen freezes, or network connection errors and arrival of new bugs.
How to tackle Scylla and Charybdis situation?
The key survival principles that apply to modern risk-management dilemmas are:
Accept a controlled loss: Recognize that you cannot escape completely unaffected. Odysseus chose to sail closer to Scylla, thus sacrificing six men rather than risking the survival of the whole ship.
Action bias should be avoided: Do not freeze or waste time trying to fight an invincible/unavoidable problem. Commit to your chosen path and move forward rapidly.
Reliable experts should be consulted: Seek wisdom from trusted advisors or mentors who understand the problem before you act blindly.
Measure the true costs: Identify the option where there is minimum loss or partial damage versus total destruction and choose the option with survivable consequences.
Conclusion
Though we come across the "between Scylla and Charybdis" situation, with adequate guidance and accepting controlled loss, we can come out of this situation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Question 1: What does the phrase "to be between Scylla and Charybdis" mean ?
Answer 1: "To be between Scylla and Charybdis" mean being forced to choose between two unpleasant options which leads to losses where avoiding one leads directly to the other. Life throws two choices at us and forces us to choose one out of two choices where we cannot avoid the losses.
Question 2: What is the effect of this situation on your mental health ?
Answer 2: This situation leaves a negative impact on your mental health and sadness prevails in your mind.
Question 3: How Aeneas tackled this situation ?
Answer 3: Aeneas and his crew were warned by Prophet Helenus to completely avoid the narrow strait and row the long way around Sicily.
Question 4: How Odysseus tackled this situation ?
Answer 4: Circe advised Odysseus to sail closer to Scylla. Odysseus chose to sail closer to Scylla, thus sacrificing six men rather than risking the survival of the whole ship.
Question 5: How to tackle this situation in real life ?
Answer 5: This situation can be tackled in real life by accepting a controlled loss, avoiding action bias, consulting reliable experts and measuring the true costs.
References:
SCYLLA (Skylla) - Sea Monster of Greek mythology. (n.d.). https://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Skylla.html
Metamorphoses (Kline) 14, the Ovid Collection, Univ. of Virginia E-Text Center. (n.d.). https://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph14.htm
HOMER, ODYSSEY BOOK 12 - Theoi Classical Texts Library. (n.d.). https://www.theoi.com/Text/HomerOdyssey12.html
Virgil. Aeneid. Book III.
Apollonius Rhodius. Argonautica. Book IV.
World Health Organization: WHO. (2022, June 16). The impact of COVID-19 on mental health cannot be made light of. https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-mental-health-cannot-be-made-light-of
How does the Federal Reserve affect inflation and employment? (n.d.). Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/money_12856.htm
Speech by Governor Kugler on pursuing the dual mandate. (n.d.). Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/kugler20240301a.htm
Monetary policy. (n.d.). https://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/fedexplained/monetary-policy.htm
Chemotherapy to treat cancer. (2025, May 15). Cancer.gov. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/chemotherapy
Side effects of cancer treatment. (n.d.). Cancer.gov. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/side-effects
