Getty Museum

Skylla Applique

Date

about 300–275 B.C.

Medium

Silver with gilding

Culture

Greek

Department

Sculpture

Institution

Getty Museum

Although the name Scylla means "puppy" in Greek, this monster was a killer. A predatory creature who personified the terrors of the sea, Scylla had a voice that sounded like a puppy barking. In Greek mythology, she lived on a cliff in the narrow strait that separated Sicily from southern Italy, where she leaned out to snatch passing sailors off their ships and devoured them. The unknown artist has here depicted her as a mermaid-like hybrid creature. Her upper body is human, but two fishy coiling tails ending in dogs' heads form her lower body.

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