SCYLLA OF MEGARA (daughter of Nisus)

While her father slept, Scylla secretly stole a fatal lock of his purple hair.^3,1 She delivered this stolen hair to Minos as a pledge of her love, thereby betraying her country and father to the enemy king.^3,1 Minos refused to accept the lock or reward her for the crime.¹ When Minos refused her expected reward, she fell into violent rage.¹ He cursed her, wishing the gods would banish her from their universe.¹

Accounts differ on her immediate fate; one source says her father ordered her to be drowned, while another states Minos tied her feet to a ship's stern and drowned her.^3,2 Her body was cast onto the shore and she was buried at the location named Scyllaeum.²

In other tales, Scylla flees from Glaucus, who is pursuing her with passionate words, by running swiftly up a mountain near the shore.⁴ She cools her body in secluded, enclosed parts of the sea when tired, but wanders naked on the dry sand when not in the water.⁴ Scylla avoids the open ocean because she does not trust herself in its midst.⁴ A smooth rock bearing her name was located on one side of the dangerous strait near the Pillar of Rhegium, noted for its perils alongside the whirlpool Charybdis.^5,6 She loses her purple lock while flying through the light air, as Nisus fiercely pursues her through the heavens with a mighty whirr.⁷ Scylla pays a dear price for her purple lock.⁷