"Atop it a great fig-tree rises, shaggy with leaves,
beneath it awesome Charybdis gulps the dark water down.
Three times a day she vomits it up, three times she gulps it down,
that terror! Don’t be there when the whirlpool swallows down –
not even the earthquake god could save you from disaster."
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 12, lines 114-118. Odysseus will pass by the fearsome Charybdis on his voyage home to Ithaca, Circe prophesies. She describes the giant whirlpool, warning him to stay clear of this powerful female monster. She says with some irony that if Odysseus’ ship is swallowed by Charybdis, not even the mighty Poseidon will be able to save him. Considering how much Odysseus has angered the sea god, there is little chance that he would ever help him.