Skyla and Charybdis

In antiquity crossing the Strait between Italy and Sicily was perilous as two monsters resided on either side.  On the North side Scylla a vicious sea monster lived in a cave.  On the South side was Charybdis a dangerous sea whirlpool that could submerge and sink entire boats.  Scylla had 6 heads and 12 legs used to catch and devour mariners.  Charybdis was a whirlpool on the ocean floor that sunk and trapped boats killing their crews for food likewise.  Odysseus decided to cross close to Skyla thus he lost only six of his crew.  He was also following Athena who had metamorphosed herself as an owl and was flying in front of his ship showing him the way. 

A 17^th century engraving shows how busy the strait was, with Sicily depicted on the right and Calabria on the left.  Although modern writers have presented Charybdis as the creation of poetic fancy, a British frigate got caught by its eddies and kept spinning as appears in the book Travels in Sicily, Greece and Albania by Sir Thomas Hughes “…. we ourselves witness the strength of this current at the mouth, when a large frigate in full sail, having incautiously approached too near, was drawn with irresistible force stern for-most into the port, from whence it required the united efforts of the whole flotilla to extricate her…”. We motored by Charybdis and although eddies of the famous whirlpool are still visible our 10 HP engine drove us by without any difficulty.  My brother and I personally know, Thanasis,  a most capable sailor who crossed the strait using his sails only on his remarkable trip from Marseille to Greece, on his 6.5 meter boat Kalliste all alone.

A sensual Sicilian ballad that talks about the moon that is buring in the sky as we burn with love on this earth,  brucia la luna n’cielu E ju brucia d’ amuria from the town of Corleone, enjoy the beautiful song about feelings.....

Corsica - Καλλιστη

We reached Propriano in the late morning thrust by moderately strong winds.  Our attempt to enter the harbor by sails was stressful as we were not familiar with its layout.  My brother’s experience of reaching moorings under sail helped to a successful landing while avoiding causing damage to either the boat or injury to us. 

As soon as we found a berth in the marina and looked around it was obvious that Corsica is a beautiful island.  In addition to its beaches it has many mountains that occupy the central part of the island.  The Ancient Greeks knew and called Corsica Kalliste, that meant beautiful or the best.  In 260 BC Corsica together with Sardinia were incorporated into the Roman Republic.  Romans used it as a place to send their exiles with the most famous one being the philosopher Seneca.  In the 5^th century, Corsica experienced a massive immigration from Tuscany, that influenced its culture and the language spoken by the locals which is very close to Tuscany’s dialect although French is now days the lingua franca.

Wonderful villages like Olmeto are to be found on the mountains in the central part of the island that are characterized by their dense vegetation (maquis). Maquis shrubland is a biome in the Mediterranean region. The name has been adopted by a variety of guerrilla movements as the density of the bush provided protection.  It was in those inaccessible sites that bandits flourished and assisted in the promulgation of vendettas between families that lasted for several generations long after the cause that started them was forgotten. The vendetta was associated with the expectation for family members to take revenge and lasted until nobody remained to be killed.  The bandits d’ honneur were the protectors of the weak and the terror of the strong.  When vendettas were in their peak village activities ceased and families barricaded themselves in their homes for long periods of time.  

In Olmeto we observed a game played with metal balls the Italians call Bocce and the French Pétanque.  Although the game was developed in its present form in Italy its origins trace back to ball games played in Ancient Rome.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821) is the most famous son of Corsica.  He belonged to a relatively modest family of noble Italian ancestry from Tuscany.  Napoleon was one of the greatest commanders in history, and his campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide.  He won most of the wars he was involved in and the vast majority of his battles, rapidly gaining control of continental Europe before his ultimate defeat in 1815 at Waterloo.