Scilla and Charybdis

When sailing between Scilla and Charybdis,
for mysteries that Man has yet to fathom,
while wondering aloud if you can keep this
small boat of yours from sinking to the bottom,
descending into Tartarus or Hades,
(depends on which mythology is present)
and knowing all along -- how best to say this --
the journey is unlikely to be pleasant,
continuing to point your trireme vessel
though dragons and leviathans imperil,
be ready, not a moment's rest, to wrestle,
bare-handed, or at best over a barrel,
and struggling with scourges and afflictions...
the Oracle be damned, with its predictions