In Greek mythology, Cerberus or Kerberos (Greek Κέρβερος, Kérberos), the ker or daimon of Erebos was the hound of Hades, a monstrous three-headed dog with a snake for a tail and snakes down his back like a mane, whose analogs in other cultures are hellhounds. Other hell hounds included Orthus, his two-headed brother. Cerberus guarded the gate to Hades and ensured that spirits of the dead could enter, but none could exit. Among his siblings are Chimera and the Hydra. He is the offspring of Echidna and Typhon. In Dante's Inferno,, he appears as the guardian of the Circle of Gluttony, and is described as having a beard on each head. Cerberus is often described as once an ordinary pup, when he was mutated and captured by Hades to guard the gates of Tartarus across the river Styx. He has an appetite for live meat/flesh and attacks anyone but spirits. He is Hades's watch-dog.
Cerberus was overcome several times, with the aid of gods or superhuman talents:
- Heracles' final labour was to capture Cerberus, which he did by wrestling it into submission.
- Orpheus used his musical skills to lull Cerberus to sleep.
- Hermes put him to sleep with water from the river Lethe.
- In Virgil's Aeneid, the Sibyl of Cumae lulled Cerberus to sleep with drugged honeycakes in order to permit Aeneas fuller entry to the underworld.
- In a Roman tale, Psyche also lulled Cerberus to sleep with drugged honeycakes.
- In The Inferno, Cerberus punishes the gluttons and is passed by Virgil and Dante due to Virgil's throwing into one of his mouths some of the putrid earth found in the Third Circle.
- In the Greek Oracle of the Dead at Cumae in southern Italy, the recently excavated subterranean shrine was found to contain giant chains fixed to the wall for three large dogs before the entrance to the shrine of Hades and Persephone. The three dogs would have represented Cerberus in this ancient temple.
References
External links
- Theoi Project, Kerberos the hound of Hades in classical literature and art
- Cerberus, The Dog of Hades : The History of an Idea, by Maurice Bloomfield, 1905, from Project Gutenberg
- Engraving of Cerberus by Gustave Doré.
- The Dog of Hades who was actually the Hound of Hecate.
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Last updated on Saturday October 11, 2008 at 09:18:53 PDT (GMT -0700)
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