Main Charactors
Ulysses
Scylla
Charybdis
Setting
In the ocean, while Ulysses is attempting to get home to Ithica where he is King.
Plot
To get past Scylla and Charybdis without getting eaten or sucked up in the whirlpool.
Conflict
The conflict in this chapter is that to get home to Ithaca, Ulysses must go between the islands where Scylla and Charybdis live. If he goes too close to Charybdis, he will get sucked into a whirlpool, but if he goes too close to Scylla, she will grab her with her long legs and eat him. Ulysses will be able to get by if he goes exactly between the rocks, but they are only as wide as the ship so if it goes only one foot off course, he will be caught by one of the monsters.
Climax
The climax of this chapter is when Ulysses realizes that the passage between the rock is only big enough for the ship, and not the oars, too. Scylla grabs the oars and pulls the ship towards her. She takes six of the men and eats them, so only a few men are left on the ship with Ulysses.
Resolution
Ulysses concludes that it is better for Scylla to take only six men, rather than all of his men in the whirlpool made by Charybdis. That is what he does, and Scylla takes six of his men to feed on.
Summary
This chapter is abut how Ulysses and his men have to sail between two monsters, Scylla and Charybdis, to get home to Ithica. Ulysses thinks he can do it if they stay exactly in the middle, but he forgets that the oars of the boat stick out very far. Ulysses says to go towards Scylla rather than Charybdis, because he thinks it would be better for Scylla to eat only six men than get sucked up in a whirlpool by Charybdis and have all of his men die. Scylla grabs the oars and pulls the ship towards her. She grabs six men, none of them Ulysses, and eats them all. Ulysses and only a few men are left with him on the ship.
