Scylla and Charybdis

Cultural  

1. In classical mythology, Scylla was a horrible six-headed monster who lived on a rock on one side of a narrow strait. Charybdis was a whirlpool on the other side. When ships passed close to Scylla's rock in order to avoid Charybdis, she would seize and devour their sailors. Aeneas, Jason, and Odysseus all had to pass between Scylla and Charybdis.

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Example Sentences

Mandatory infringement works to place competitors between Scylla and Charybdis, forcing them out of the market and thereby harming consumers.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 21, 2022

In other words, the middle path, the tightrope walk, the threading of Scylla and Charybdis.

From Salon • Apr. 23, 2022

Especially when contemplating prospects for life on distinctly alien worlds such as the ocean moons of the outer solar system, researchers must carefully navigate between these two interlinked hazards—the Scylla and Charybdis of astrobiology.

From Scientific American • Jul. 16, 2021

When it came to the customer experience, however, the opera house had to contend with the Scylla and Charybdis of modern renovation: accessibility and historical heritage.

From New York Times • Mar. 6, 2020

A sea peril next awaited them—the passage between Scylla and Charybdis.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton