The Myth Of Cerberus Explained

Greco-Roman mythology has no shortage of epic quests, terrifying monsters, or heroes willing to face them. One of the challenges many great mythological heroes had to face was the famous three-headed guard dog of the underworld.

As explained in "Bouncing down to the underworld: Classical Katabasis in The Ground Beneath Her Feet," the ancient Greek term "katabasis" refers to the act of journeying into the land of the dead. Many of the most iconic heroes of Greek and Roman myth make this perilous journey to the underword. In some legends, even finding the entrance to the underworld is a challenge. Once they get there, however, trying not to be devoured by Cerberus can be an even more substantial obstacle. Some of the most exciting adventures of famous heroes like Hercules, Aeneas, and Orpheus involve finding a way around Cerberus -– either with brute force or charm.

The image of a three-headed dog guarding the gates to the underworld is one that has remained fascinating to audiences for thousands of years -– but the legends around Cerberus have greater connections to life and death in the ancient world than may be immediately obvious. This is the myth of Cerberus explained.

Cerberus was owned by Hades, the reluctant ruler of the underworld. As described by "Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths," the dead were rowed across the river Styx by the ferryman Charon –- as long as they had a coin to pay for the trip. Once they made it across, they would reach the gate of the underworld, where Hades' loyal hound stood guard. Once inside, the dead could only whisper and "twittered like bats" as they drifted around the dark fields. Some, who had truly angered the gods, were given frustrating eternal tasks as punishment.

Hades is often depicted as a jealous and possessive god who wanted all of the spirits of the dead for himself. Cerberus' role was to keep them all inside the underworld –- and to keep the living out. Often, great heroes in Greek and Roman mythology had to go into the underworld, either for knowledge or to try to help a loved one escape. First, they had to get by Cerberus, however, which was one of the most potentially deadly tasks in ancient myth.

Cerberus' parents were both formidable and feared creatures. While neither resemble hounds, they have their own fascinating features.

His mother is called Echidna. As detailed in "Melusine the Serpent Goddess in A.S. Byatt's Possession and in Mythology," Echidna is depicted as a beautiful woman -– from the waist up. It's possible that Cerberus inherited his snake fur and tail from his mother, because below the waist she has the body of a snake. Like Cerberus, Echidna does not spend her time above ground. The immortal and unaging Echidna's lair is in a deep, underground cave system. She eats only raw meat.

Even in rare depictions where Cerberus had 50 heads, he had nothing on his father: the 100-headed Typhon. "Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths" describes Typhon as being half-snake, like his wife Echidna. Unlike her, he was also half-donkey and had massive wings like a bat. He was said to be able to spit fire. As explained by Britannica, in some versions of the legend, Zeus, the king of the gods, trapped Typhon under Mount Etna where he continued to cause volcanic eruptions from underground. In other versions, Typhon was condemned to the underworld.

The famous Greek mythological hero Hercules was set a series of 12 heroic tasks he hads to perform, known as the labors of Hercules. As detailed by Tufts University's Perseus Digital Library, many of the demigod's most dangerous exploits involved Cerberus' littermates -– and finally Cerberus himself.

During his second labor, he defeated the Hydra by preventing his heads from regrowing with a burning torch, then burying his immortal head deep underground where it could do no harm. During Hercules' 10th labor, he killed Cerberus' two-headed brother Orthus. In the 11th, Hercules tricked the Titan Atlas into bringing him the golden apples guarded by one of Cerberus' dragon brothers. Hercules also faced the Nemean Lion, which was sometimes described as Typhon's child.

Hercules' final task is considered the most dangerous of all. He was told to travel to the underworld to capture Cerberus. On his journey, Hercules fought numerous monsters and spirits, but none as dangerous as Cerberus. Finally, Hercules reached Hades, the king of the underworld, and asked him for permission to take Cerberus to the mortal world. Hades agreed, but only if the hero could capture Cerberus himself, without using any weapons or tools. Hercules wrestled with Cerberus, fighting all three of the hound's heads at once. Although Cerberus succeeded in biting Hercules with his snake tail, he was ultimately captured. The hero brought Cerberus to the mortal word to prove that he had succeeded. Afterwards, he returned Cerberus safely to the underworld.

The mythical hero Aeneas is best known for his central role in Virgil's "Aeneid," about the history and founding of Rome. Like many other classical heroes, his journey took him to the underworld. Aeneas was there to be given a prophecy by his dead father. In order to find his father's spirit, however, he would have to find a way to get past the underworld's guard dog.

Cerberus is especially frighteningly depicted in the "Aeneid." He is large enough to fill a massive cavern, has a mane of writing snakes, and his intensely loud "triple-throated roar" echoed throughout the underworld. Aeneas brought a secret weapon to avoid being devoured by the "ravenous" dog –- honey cakes.

The "loaf with honeyed herbs" was more than just a snack to distract the guard dog. It was laced with something to make him sleep. While Cerberus was unconscious, Aeneas was able to sneak through "hell's portal" and into the underworld to continue his quest.

Not every hero came prepared with food for Cerberus, but there were other ways to distract the hound of Hades, as the hero Orpheus discovered.

Orpheus, as retold by "Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths," was a musician who was the son of a muse and taught to play the lyre by Apollo himself. He married a woman named Eurydice, but a year after their wedding day, she stepped into a nest of poisonous snakes and was killed. Orpheus decided to go into the underworld to get her back.

When he reached the gates, Cerberus snarled at him, getting ready to rip him to pieces. Instead of running away, Orpheus began to play his lyre. He played a hunting song for Cerberus, to remind him of a life he might have had as an ordinary dog –- one-headed and running through the forest after animals. Cerberus listened to the song, and then went to sleep to dream of life as a normal dog, and Orpheus was able to enter the underworld.

While the hound of Hades is one of the most famous supernatural canines, the idea of a dog standing guard at the entrance to the underworld or defending the boundaries between life and death is not unique to Cerberus.

The Finnish mythological dog Surma also guarded the land of the dead for its ruling deities. Like Cerberus, his tail was described as a snake. Also like Cerberus, legends about the ferocious dog in the afterlife influenced burial customs. According to "Cerberus," some were buried with clubs so they could fight their way past Surma. In Norse mythology, the gate to the underworld — Helheim — is guarded by a dog named Garm. Sometimes Garm is depicted with multiple heads, like Cerberus.

While Garm, Surma, and Cerberus were simple guard dogs for the rulers of the underworld, some cultures viewed dogs as having a more powerful role in the afterlife. In ancient Egyptian mythology, the black-dog-headed — or jackal-headed — god Anubis was a worshipped death god. Instead of attacking the living or the dead to ensure they stayed in the correct realms, Anubis was the being who determined where the dead belonged. He would lead the spirits of the dead to the afterlife, and then weigh their hearts to determine if they had been good enough in life to remain. If not, he fed their hearts to his own monstrous beast: the crocodile-headed Ammit.