ATLANTIC THRINAKIA; SKULLA AND CHARUBDIS
THRINAKIA - ST. MICHAEL'S MOUNT
Odysseus' Second Voyage Part II
Translation of Introduction Cornwall-Thrinakia from Homeros Odyssee, De zwerftochten van Odysseus over de Atlantische Oceaan by Gerard W.J.Janssen, Leeuwarden 2018, p.686 sq. Continuation of Atlantic Troy, in academia.edu. Website Homer Odyssey .
Location
After his adventures with the Seirenes, Odysseus sails on and "immediately" comes to Skulla and Charubdis, where he has to pass the second test of obedience to Kirke' assignments. With regard to Skulla we can extract the following data from the text 12,73 sq.: - she lives in a smooth, sharply tapered stone formation with a misty cavern in the midst, facing west towards Erebos; - the cavern lays high up; - the monster Skulla, that is hidden up in it to her waist, barks and squeaks like a puppy; - it has twelve legs, six very long necks, six horrible heads with three rows of teeth; - it fishes up big sea animals; - it is an immortal, uncontrollable evil; - her mother is Krataïs (v.118) - the distance between Skulla and the Seirenes is not very large (v.201) - she lives near a sea strait (steinopon, v.234).
Except for De Grave all Atlantic authors locate Skulla at England's south-coast, more specific on St. Michael's Mount, Cornwall. Cailleux first suggested the brilliant idea of Skulla being six cranes, of which the legs are invisible and the heads and necks with their triple toothed grippers could be released outside to load or unload ships. Her mother Karataïs is the kradé, later used in Greek theatre productions to hoist the gods up to the roof or to let them fly across the stage. Krataïs would than be the drive mechanism for the cranes, a sort of winch driven by springs. The barking and squeaking are the noises of the springs and drive wheels. The materials that were loaded here were of course metals like the tin of Cornwall with overseas destinations. Indeed, old chronicles mention that tin was loaded at a place that fell dry at low tide, which is the case with the Mount. Wilkens adds (p.259): "This is confirmed by the Greek explorer Pytheas of Marseilles who visited the tin-mines of Cornwall around 330 BC and wrote that the tin was transported at low tide to the adjacent island for shipping overseas. He also reported that the metal was smelted and cast into knuckle-bone shape for export." Now it's generally recognized that this shipping island is the Mount. The Greek word for tin is kassiteros derived from the Kassiterides, another name for the British Isles and especially Cornwall, whose tin can be found all over the world. Even a bronze statue of Pharaoh Pepi (2300 BC) contains tin from Cornwall (Wilkens p.255). Phocaeans, Phoenicians, Venetians, Iberians, Skythes and other merchants exchanged their merchandise for metals of the Silures, the inhabitants of Cornwall.
Gideon (p.93-96) points to the fact that Cailleux positioned Skulla and Charubdis incorrectly. The coast must be Charubdis and Skulla the rocky island and not vice versa, because the crane cavern faces the west, which means that from Thanet one has to sail around the island and enter the bay from the west with Skulla on starboard and Charubdis at larboard. With this, Homer gives a nautical indication about the method of loading and unloading ships there and a warning for sailors. Since tide difference is about 5 m., one must avoid the coast with its dangerous floods and waves at all means and stay close to the St. Michael's Mount, moor or anchor at high tide in order to load or unload and then quickly leave again on the eastern side of the bay with the prevailing southwestern wind from behind. Water depth at lowest spring tide is +3,5 m (dry), at highest spring tide -1,5 à 2 m. The coast (Charubdis) has even lower tide. It is important, therefore, to handle ships fast with multiple cranes at the same time, because there is navigable water only for 2 or 3 hours, or else the ship will fall dry and must wait for hours. Wilkens suggests (p.294) the name Skulla has been preserved in the Isles of Scilly near Land's End and Charubdis possibly in Carbis Bay on the northern side of Cornwall. The identification of Skulla as St.Michael's Mount may be confirmed by the name Erebos. Homer tells (v.12,80) that Skulla "is facing west towards Erebos". Which Erebos is meant here? The word Erebos has a Gallo-German derivation from Erbe, erf - ground, especially cemetery (book 11, see Introduction Hades). Because this Erebos can't be the same cemetery as the Erebos of Zeeland, it has to be found somewhere else. Its location must be west or southwest from the Mount, and indeed, in the west are the Isles of Scilly where a lot of Bronze Age tombs have been found. One of these islands is Bryher, named after the giant Briareus, who for ever is watching over the eternally dormant Saturn, buried there in the deepest Tartaros by Zeus himself.
