Between Scylla and Charybdis

"Scylla and Charybdis" redirects here. For other uses, see Scylla and Charybdis (disambiguation).
Henry Fuseli's painting of Odysseus facing the choice between Scylla and Charybdis, 1794–1796

Being between Scylla and Charybdis is an idiom deriving from Greek mythology, which has been associated with the proverbial advice "to choose the lesser of two evils".[1] Several other idioms such as "on the horns of a dilemma", "between the devil and the deep blue sea", and "between a rock and a hard place" express similar meanings.[2] The mythical situation also developed a proverbial use in which seeking to choose between equally dangerous extremes is seen as leading inevitably to disaster.

  1. ^ Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, Oxford University Press (2015), p.99
  2. ^ Christine Ammer. 2003, 1997. The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Retrieved 26 August 2019.