Vergil makes simultaneous reference to two Scyllae, one notably more famous than the other. The more famous Scylla, the one that Homer describes in his Odyssey, receives the bulk of his attention, as he describes her succinctam latrantibus inguina monstris (VI, 75). This Scylla is a monstrous creature of tremendous reach and danger, forcing sailors to either endure her attacks or be destroyed by the neighboring whirlpool of Charybdis. Vergil continues to discuss this Scylla through reference to her appearance in Homer's epic, where she killed several members of Odysseus' crew.
The other Scylla, although the poet references her first, does not receive such a detailed description in this Eclogue. Vergil only tells as that she is the daughter of Nisus before he begins to describe her as the sea-beast Scylla. According to Ovid, Her father was the ruler of Alcathous in Megara, whose most notable feature was a purple lock of hair that was "magni fiducia regni" (Met. VIII, 10). Eventually, Minos invaded Megara from Crete and savaged the countryside before laying siege to the city. During this siege, this Scylla would regularly climb a tall tower of the city so that she could gaze at the army, and especially upon Minos himself, with whom she became hopelessly enamored.
After some time, she grew tired of her distant viewing and desired to enter into his camp and find some way that she might accompany him. She decides that the best way for her to accomplish this desire is to steal her father's famous lock of hair and present it to Minos, so that it would no longer serve as a protection for the city and he could win the siege. When she sneaks into his camp, however, Minos becomes distraught. Repulsed by her betrayal, he spurns her directly and takes the city.
After the conquest, he sails away without her, causing Scylla to fly into a rage and chase after his ships. Her father, now a bird of prey, attacks her as revenge and she herself transforms into a bird, Ciris.
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