Scylla in Book 12 of The Odyssey is a siren that is known to be a killer. When Odysseus and his men encounter Scylla on their journey, Odysseus is faced to make a decision; face Scylla and risk her killing six of his best and strongest men, or sacrifice everyone’s lives by sailing their ship towards Charybdis. For Odysseus, although the decision was a difficult one, he ultimately decided to face Scylla, sacrificing six of his men. As described in Book 12, Scylla was no easy feat, teaching Odysseus leadership, sacrifice, and loyalty. Along with this, Odysseus didn’t have an easy way out when facing Scylla. This is very similar to the depiction of Scylla in Rick Riordan’s book Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters. The Percy Jackson books are known for being very action-packed. Along with this the Percy Jackson books are an introduction to Greek mythology for young teens. For Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, the audience is introduced to Scylla and Charybdis, just like the audience reading The Odyssey. For Riordan, Scylla looks the same as she is described in Homer’s epic: six scaly heads with 3 rows of sharp teeth and 12 legs. Along with this, Riordan depicts Scylla’s character to be vicious and a creature people fear. While Scylla is depicted identically in both Homer’s epic and Riordan’s book, it makes her character seem more accurate.

In Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Percy’s school is in danger due to their protecting Thalia Tree getting poisoned. In order to save Camp Half-Blood and heal the Thalia Tree, Percy, his girlfriend Annabeth and his half brother Tyson embark on a journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Along the journey, Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson must sail through the Sea of Monsters, which is the modern-day Bermuda Triangle. In the Sea of Monsters, they encounter Scylla and Charybdis, both sea monsters introduced in Homer’s epic, The Odyssey.  When encountering Scylla in the strait, Percy and his friends have a different experience than Odysseus. For starters, Scylla was unable to kill Percy and his friends. In Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, we learn that Percy, Annabeth and Tyson were able to not only outsmart Scylla, but escape her unscathed. However, what Homer failed to do in The Odyssey was give Scylla a personality outside of killing any travelers sailing through the strait. For Riordan, he describes that each of Scylla’s heads depict a different facet of her personality, and that they’re constantly debating with each other. Although this detail may seem insignificant for Riordan to include, it shows that she is unpredictable, rather than her being a one-dimensional sea monster only written to kill daring sailors.

Rick Riordan’s books are a great source to learn about Greek mythology. Not only do they give us a modern perspective on Greek mythology, but his movie adaptations allow for the audience to understand the stories and characters visually. This is unlike readers reading The Odyssey. Although Wilson’s translation provides detailed descriptions of Scylla snatching sailors, such as, “No sailors ever pass that way unharmed. She snatches one man with each mouth from off each dark-powered ship” (Wilson, Page 304, Lines 98-99), a visual representation gives the audience a deeper understanding of how truly terrifying Scylla is.