), was the hound of Hades—a monstrous three- headed dog (sometimes said to have fifty or one-hundred heads), (sometimes) with a snake for a tail and innumerable snake heads on his back.
He guarded the gate to Hades (the Greek underworld) and ensured that the dead could not leave and the living could not enter. His brother was Orthrus.
Cerberus is the offspring of Echidna and Typhon.
He was overcome several times:
- Heracles' final labour was to capture Cerberus. First, Heracles went to EleusisEleusis was a small town about 30 km NW of Athens. Most importantly, it was the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries, one of the major cults of ancient Greece. See also Metanira. Today, the city, which is named Elefsina, has became a part of the suburb of Ath to be initiated into the Eleusinian MysteriesThe Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremonies for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times these were held to be the ones of greatest importance. These myths and mysterie. He did this to absolve himself of guilt for killing the centaurSee also centaur (planetoid), Centaur (rocket stage Guido Reni, Abduction of Deianira 1620-21 In Greek mythology, the centaurs are a race part human and part horse, with a horse's body and a human head and torso illustration, right . A centaur is the firss and to learn how to enter and exit the underworld alive. He found the entrance to the underwold at TanaerumTanaerum is where Hercules ( Herakles ) went to find the entrance to hell. see Karadeniz Eregli.. AthenaThis article is about the goddess Athena. For other uses see Athena (disambiguation). Aegina Athena ( Phoenician Onga also transliterated as Athene the Greek goddess of wisdom, strategy, and war associated by the Romans with their Etruscan goddess Minerva and HermesDionysus, by Praxiteles Hermes (Greek: 'pile of marker stones'), in Greek mythology, is the god of travelers, shepherds, land travel, orators, literature, cunning, poets, athletics, weights and measures, and thieves, and the messenger from the gods to hum helped him through and back from Hades. Heracles asked Hades for permission to take Cerberus. Hades agreed as long as Heracles didn't harm him, though in some versions, Heracles shot Hades with an arrow. When Heracles dragged the dog out of Hades, he passed through the cavern AcherusiaIn Greek mythology, Acherusia was an underground cavern, through which Heracles dragged Cerberus as one of his Twelve Labors. See also Acheron. Greek mythology..
- OrpheusFor other senses of the word Orpheus, see Orpheus (disambiguation). Gustave Moreau ( 1880) In Greek legend, Orpheus was the chief representative of the arts of song and the lyre, and of great importance in the religious history of Greece. He was a Greek o used his musical skills to lull Cerberus to sleep.
- In Roman mythology, Aeneas lulled Cerberus to sleep with drugged honeycakes.
- In Roman mythology, Psyche also lulled Cerberus to sleep with drugged honeycakes.
- In Greek mythology, Hermes puts him to sleep with water from the river Lethe.
He can be found also in Dante's Divine Comedy, in Canto VI of
Inferno