Charybdis Fig Tree
Encyclopedia
The Charybdis Fig Tree is a massive fig tree situated above the whirlpool monster Charybdis
in the infamous Strait of Messina
.
. However, its long branches droop down so they are right above the rotating void of Charybdis.
for saving Odysseus
from being sucked in by Charybdis. When Odysseus's men ate the Sun-God's cattle, they were punished by having their boat ripped apart in a terrible thunderstorm. Only Odysseus is believed to survive and makes a raft by lashing the keel and mast together to form a raft. But the current of Charybdis drags the raft into its spinning center and Odysseus is able to escape by grabbing the overhanging branches of the fig tree. When Charybdis throws the raft back up again, Odysseus manages to drop back into the water and get back on the raft where he later manages to land on the island of Ogygia where the nymph Calypso lived.
Charybdis
Charybdis or Kharybdis was a sea monster, later rationalised as a whirlpool and considered a shipping hazard in the Strait of Messina.-The mythological background:...
in the infamous Strait of Messina
Strait of Messina
The Strait of Messina is the narrow passage between the eastern tip of Sicily and the southern tip of Calabria in the south of Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian Sea with the Ionian Sea, within the central Mediterranean...
.
Location
The fig tree's trunk is on the top of a cliff on the opposite side of the straight looking outwards to the ScyllaScylla
In Greek mythology, Scylla was a monster that lived on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite its counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the strait were within an arrow's range of each other—so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis would pass too close to Scylla and vice...
. However, its long branches droop down so they are right above the rotating void of Charybdis.
Mythology
Very little is known about the Charybdis Fig Tree. There are barely any sources to explain the background of the fig tree, though it is credited in the OdysseyOdyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
for saving Odysseus
Odysseus
Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
from being sucked in by Charybdis. When Odysseus's men ate the Sun-God's cattle, they were punished by having their boat ripped apart in a terrible thunderstorm. Only Odysseus is believed to survive and makes a raft by lashing the keel and mast together to form a raft. But the current of Charybdis drags the raft into its spinning center and Odysseus is able to escape by grabbing the overhanging branches of the fig tree. When Charybdis throws the raft back up again, Odysseus manages to drop back into the water and get back on the raft where he later manages to land on the island of Ogygia where the nymph Calypso lived.