Charybdis was originally a naiad, the daughter of Poseidon and Gaia, but was transformed into a sea monster with a huge mouth and flippers for arms that would swallow water three times a day and belch it back out as whirlpools. She lived across a narrow strait from another sea monster, Scylla, making passage between them dangerous for sailors who had to choose whether to risk Charybdis' whirlpools or Scylla's attacks, giving rise to the phrase "between a rock and a hard place."

1. Charybdis

2. Charybdis Charybdis was a sea monster, once a beautiful naiad and the daughter Poseidon and Gaia. She takes forms as a huge creature whose face was all mouth and whose arms were all flippers. She swallows huge amounts of water 3 times a day before belching them back out again, creating whirlpools. The myth has Charybdis lying on one side of a narrow channel of water while Scylla (another sea monster) was on the other side of the strait. They were so close together that when sailors used to sail through there, they sailed away trying to avoid Scylla and got to close to Charybdis. The phrase “between Scylla and Charybdis” is said to be the origin of the phrase “between a rock and a hard place”.