Amphitrite

Amphitrite threw poisonous herbs into the pool where Scylla bathed. She had become jealous because Poseidon loved the beautiful sea maiden. As Scylla waded into the water, the submerged parts of her body changed. Her waist remained that of a beautiful and powerful nymph, but below it grew twelve feet and six long necks. Each neck ended in a snarling head with a voice like a dog’s bark. Other descriptions give her six heads with three rows of sharp teeth and a fish’s tail.

The transformation destroyed Scylla’s former nature. Her memory disappeared, along with her ability to feel or think. She knew only a fierce and unending hunger for human flesh. She left the waters near Corinth and swam west until she reached a busy sea route. There she lived in a cave high in a rock that later bore her name.

Scylla attacked ships that passed through the narrow channel she shared with Charybdis. Each of her heads could seize a sailor from a vessel. When Odysseus sailed through the straits, Scylla caught six of his men. He continued on with the surviving crew, who rowed the ship away. In this form, Scylla remained a sea monster, driven by hunger and separated from the maiden she had been.