Eddies, straits and clashing rocks: the dangerous sea of Ancient Greeks

Abstract

The representation of the sea in antiquity is characterized by a great ambiguity. The sea mirrors the earthly space in an upside-down way, and its surface represents a separation between what is known or knowledgeable (on the water) and what is obscure and unknown (under the water). For that reason, sentering the sea can be compared, in some cases, to travelling in the netherworld. This paper investigates the symbolic geography of sea and seafaring, focusing on the mythology of straits and on the myth of the clashing rocks in the Mediterranean Sea. These moving rocks that receive various names in ancient sources, open and close periodically, smashing every ship that tries to pass: they perfectly represent the precariousness of the passage and foster the image of the straits as a threshold between two worlds.