Terracotta relief showing Skylla
Greek, about 465-435 BC
From Mílos, Aegean Sea; Found on Aegina
Cut-out terracotta plaques with flat backs were a speciality of
the island of Mílos. They were usually pierced for attachment to
other objects, probably chests or coffins.
The subjects of the plaques are mostly mythological. This one
shows Skylla, a sea-monster in Greek mythology. Skylla's lair was a
cave in a tall cliff face. Sailors were forced to sail close to the
cliff to avoid being sucked into the terrible whirlpool of
Charybdis nearby. As they did so, Skylla's six heads would lean out
and snatch six victims from the decks of the ship. In Homer's
Odyssey, Skylla is described as an evil monster with
twelve feet; she has the bark of a new-born puppy, but each of her
six heads has three rows of teeth, 'thick and close, and full of
black death'.
Skylla is shown here with the head and torso of a woman and the
tail of a sea-monster; her elegantly pleated skirt neatly hides the
junction between the two. The snapping dogs' heads at her waist
evoke both her many, man-devouring heads and Homer's description of
her voice.
R.A. Higgins, Greek terracottas (London, Methuen, 1967)