I reached the crag of Scylla and dire Charybdis’ vortex
right when the dreadful whirlpool gulped the salt sea down.
But heaving myself aloft to clutch at the fig-tree’s height,
like a bat I clung to its trunk for dear life – not a chance
for a good firm foothold there, no clambering up it either,
the roots too far to reach, the boughs too high overhead,
huge swaying branches that overshadowed Charybdis.
But I held on, dead set…waiting for her
to vomit my mast and keel back up again.
Oh how I ached for both! and back they came.
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 12, lines 464-473. This passage describes how Odysseus escapes the deadly whirlpool Charybdis with timbers from his wrecked raft. He displays great courage as he clings for dear life to the trunk of a fig tree to stop himself being swallowed up by Charybdis. A simile describes him holding on "like a bat," until the whirlpool vomits his mast and keel back up again. He scrambles aboard them, so managing to turn defeat into victory.