The Self-Divisions of Scylla

Abstract

In the post-Homeric tradition the sea-monster Scylla is characterized by a duality that manifests itself both in her physical hybridity and in more abstract ways relating to textuality and to fictionality. Ovid, developing features of the Virgilian Scylla, exploits the dualities of Scylla; the self-division of Scylla then lends itself to the purposes of post-classical authors, Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, who write to specific theological and allegorical agendas.