Charybdis
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Charybdis (Grk = Kharybdis): A mythological monster. A daughter of Poseidon (or Pontus) and Gaia, she was associated with a whirlpool which lived on a rock near Messina, on the Sicilian side of the Straits of Messina. According to myth, three times each day, she created a whirlpool capable of sucking down an entire ship into the depths of the sea and then belching it out again. From this Charybdis derived her name from the Greek words for “swallow up” (khaoô) and “belch” (bdeô). The Greek writer Pherekydes even incorporated her name into a verb ekcha^rubdizô (= to shallow like Charybdis), which he used to describe gluttons.
It is believed that Charybdis was originally a goddess of the tides. She is also identified with Keto Trienos whose name (“Sea-monster three times”) relates to the tri-daily ebb-and-flow of the Messina Strait high tides. This latter monster was said to be the mother of Scylla by the Cyclops Polyphemus or Phorcys.