I can’t get over how Scylla was the first threat that Odysseus did not defeat in any way. He started the journey by blinding Polyphemus. He used a storm to escape Poseidon before his punishment was over, and he was able to reason with Circe. He killed the sirens. Even if Odysseus lost some men, he always found a way through on his own terms. His enemies were either swayed to his side or left dissatisfied, damaged, or dead.
Then he encountered Scylla. Scylla, that which terrifies the very god of the seas so deeply that he dares not enter her realm. Scylla, who acknowledged Odysseus as her own kind. And he didn’t try to come up with a plot to get around her safely, to reason with her, to injure or kill her. Like Eurylochus said, he “didn’t take a stand.” He weighed his options and chose to sacrifice six of his men for passage. She was left satisfied, and it doesn’t matter that most of his men survived.
For the first time in his journey, Odysseus truly lost.