Clashing Rocks (Planctae)
placeThe Wandering Rocks encountered by Odysseus, blazing cliffs through which only the Argo ever passed, offered as an alternative route to Scylla and Charybdis.
The Myth
The Planctae, or Wandering Rocks, were described by Circe as an alternative to the strait of Scylla and Charybdis. Unlike the Symplegades that the Argonauts passed, the Planctae were surrounded by fire and crashing waves, and no ship had ever survived them except the Argo, which Hera guided safely through out of love for Jason. Even doves carrying ambrosia to Zeus lost one of their number to the rocks each flight, and Zeus always had to replace the lost bird. Circe advised Odysseus to avoid the Planctae entirely and instead choose the strait where Scylla and Charybdis waited. Scylla would take six men — one for each of her six heads — but the ship would survive. The Planctae would destroy them all. This forced choice between certain partial loss (Scylla) and probable total destruction (Planctae) gave Odysseus one of his most agonising leadership decisions: to sacrifice some crew members knowingly to save the rest.
Symbols
Fun Fact
The "Scylla or Charybdis" dilemma — choosing between two terrible options — became one of the most used idioms in English and European languages, but Homer actually presented three options: Scylla, Charybdis, or the Planctae. The third option (total destruction) was rejected so quickly that it disappeared from the idiom. Leadership theory calls this "the Odysseus problem" — the hardest decisions aren't between good and bad, but between bad and worse, with the truly catastrophic option already eliminated.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Argo (Ship)
placeThe Argo was the ship built by Argus for Jason's quest — the first long-voyage ship in Greek myth,...
Symplegades
placeThe Clashing Rocks at the entrance to the Black Sea that crushed any ship attempting to pass...
Argonauts
conceptThe Argonauts were the band of heroes who sailed with Jason on the Argo to retrieve the Golden...
Colchis
placeColchis was a kingdom at the eastern edge of the Greek world, on the shore of the Black Sea in...
Charybdis
creatureA massive whirlpool monster that swallowed and regurgitated the sea three times daily, destroying...
Circe
godA powerful sorceress who lived on the island of Aeaea. Circe transformed Odysseus's men into swine...
Hera
godQueen of the Olympian gods and goddess of marriage. Known for her jealous rages against Zeus's...
Hera Teleia
godAn epithet of Hera as goddess of marriage and its fulfilment, worshipped as the divine model of the...
Jason
heroThe hero who assembled the Argonauts and sailed to Colchis in quest of the Golden Fleece. Jason's...
Odysseus
heroThe cleverest of the Greek heroes, whose ten-year journey home from Troy is one of the greatest...
Odysseus (Trickster)
heroOdysseus was the most cunning of all Greek heroes — the man of polytropos (many turns), whose...
Scylla
creatureA terrifying sea monster with six heads on long necks, each with three rows of teeth. She lived in...