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In Greek mythology, Cerberus (/ ˈ s ɜːr b ər ə s / [2] or / ˈ k ɜːr b ər ə s /; Ancient Greek: Κέρβερος Kérberos), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld to prevent the dead from leaving.
Cerberus, a Cretan man who along with three others (Aegolius, Celeus and Laius) attempted to steal honey from the sacred cave in Crete, where Zeus had been brought up. Zeus intended to kill them for the insolence, but because the cave was sacred, he turned them into birds; Cerberus became a kerberos, an unidentified species of bird. [5]
Articles relating to Cerberus, his depictions, and his mythical counterparts.He is the hound of Hades, a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving.
Homer uses the term to refer to the Underworld: [23] in the Odyssey, souls of the dead are described as "gather[ing] from out of Erebus", on the shore of Oceanus at the edge of the Earth, [24] while in the Iliad Erebus is the location in which the Erinyes live, [25] and from which Heracles must fetch Cerberus. [26]
According to Hesiod, Cerberus, like Orthrus was the offspring of Echidna and Typhon. And like Orthrus, Cerberus was multi-headed. The earliest accounts gave Cerberus fifty, [20] or even one hundred heads, [21] though in literature three heads for Cerberus became the standard. [22] However, in art, often only two heads for Cerberus are shown. [23]
Ancient drachma from Larissa, around 420 BC, depicting Heracles with the Cretan Bull.Now in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland. Minos was king in Crete.In order to confirm his right to rule, rather than any of his brothers, he prayed Poseidon send him a snow-white bull as a sign.
The Theogony (Ancient Greek: Θεογονία, Theogonía, [2] i.e. "the genealogy or birth of the gods" [3]) is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed c. 730–700 BC. [4]
Pluto (1592) by Agostino Carracci, probably influenced by the description in Vincenzo Cartari's mythography, [90] with the god holding his scepter and key, Cerberus at his side. Pausanias explains the significance of Pluto's key in describing a wondrously carved cedar chest at the Temple of Hera in Elis.