The Story of Nisus
and Scylla
War Against Megara
 Minos, son of Zeus and Europa,
attacks the kingdom of Megara in the
Corinthian Isthmus (An ally of
Athens).
 Megara’s king, Nisus, had a lock of
purple hair. As long as the purple
lock was kept on his head, his
kingdom could not be overtaken and
he could not die.
 The war goes on for over 6 months
and it looks like neither side will
ever win.
Scylla- Daughter of
Nisus
 Scylla goes to the tower of the
castle everyday to watch the
battles. The war has been going on
for so long that she has learned the
names of the enemies’ captains and
their armor.
 Scylla Falls deeply in love, with
Minos, the leader of the Cretan
army. She even compares his beauty
and skill to Apollo.
Internal Struggle
 Scylla starts thinking up ways as to how
she can be with Minos. She even
considers offering herself as a hostage
to him. Eventually, she realizes that she
could give him her father’s country as a
dowry of marriage.
 However, Scylla doesn’t want to win her
love over through treason. But soon she
is convinced that her father is losing the
war and better to end it without more
blood shed; and that girls before her
this deeply in love had done the same
thing so why couldn’t she?
Scylla’s Mistake
 Thinking that this will make her the
mistress of Minos, Scylla cuts off her
father’s purple lock while he is
sleeping, thus killing him.
 She goes to Minos’ camp and offers him
“her fathers’ life”, or the lock, and says
that “love has led me to do this”. All
that she wants in return is Minos.
 Her plan backfires for Minos shrinks
away from her gift and exclaims “May
the gods cast you out, and earth and
ocean reject you, infamous daughter of
our time!”
Megara Is Conquered
 Although Minos rejects the gift, he
takes full advantage of Scylla’s
actions by conquering Megara.
 After imposing his laws, Minos gets
ready to set sail back to his home. He
of course plans to leave Scylla
behind.
Scylla’s Anger
 When Scylla sees that she will not be
rewarded, she begins to yell at Minos.
She cries out that his parents were not
really Zeus and Europa for they are
incapable of having a monster like him
for an offspring.
 Because of her actions, Scylla can no
longer live in Megara; and since Minos
has forbid her from Crete, she has no
where to go. Because of this, she
decides to go with Minos whether he
likes it or not.
Conclusion
 When she sees Minos leaving without her,
she jumps into the water and clings to the
stern of the boat.
 Her father, who has now been turned into
an Osprey, or a sea hawk, sees his daughter
and attacks her with his beak.
 Scylla loses her grip and begins to fall
into the water. However, a god taking pity
turns her into a ciris to save her from
drowning.
 From that day on, the sea hawk attacks the
ciris whenever they are near each other, in
vengeance of the ancient crime.
The Cretan Warriors
Outside Megera
Scylla Falling In Love
with minos
Scylla offering minos
the lock of hair
Scylla clinging to the
ship
 Ciris- the bird
that scylla was
turned into.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
 Sea hawk- the
bird that nisus
was turned into.
Alternate Ending?
 In different versions of the story,
Minos ties Scylla to the stern with
her head in the water so she drowns.
 In another version, Scylla is
transformed by Circe into a sea
monster with tentacles and
creatures growing from her middle.
She forever lives in a cave and eats
sailors who pass her by.
The End!
Questions??????????