In Greek mythology, Cerberus ( or ; 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. He was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon, and was usually described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from his body. Cerberus is primarily known for his capture by Heracles, the last of Heracles' twelve labours.
Etymology
The etymology of Cerberus' name is uncertain. Daniel OgdenOgden 2013a, p. 105. refers to attempts to establish an Indo-European etymology as "not yet successful". It has been claimed to be related to the Sanskrit word सर्वरा sarvarā, used as an epithet of one of the dogs of Yama, from a Proto-Indo-European word *k̑érberos, meaning "spotted". Lincoln (1991),Lincoln, pp. 96–97. among others, critiques this etymology. This etymology was also rejected by Manfred Mayrhofer, who proposed an Austro-Asiatic origin for the word,Mayrhofer, Kurzgefaßtes Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen s.v. karbaraḥ and by Beekes.Beekes, R. S. P., Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 1:678. Lincoln notes a similarity between Cerberus and the Norse mythological dog Garmr, relating both names to a Proto-Indo-European root *ger- "to growl" (perhaps with the suffixes -*m/*b and -*r). However, as Ogden observes, this analysis actually requires Kerberos and Garmr to be derived from two different Indo-European roots (*ker- and *gher- respectively), and so does not actually establish a relationship between the two names.
Though probably not Greek, Greek etymologies for Cerberus have been offered. An etymology given by Servius (the late-fourth-century commentator on Virgil)—but rejected by Ogden—derives Cerberus from the Greek word creoboros meaning "flesh-devouring".Servius on Virgil, Aeneid 6.395; Ogden 2013a, p. 190; compare with Fulgentius, Mythologies 1.6 (Whitbread, pp. 51–52); First Vatican Mythographer, 1.57 (Ogden 2013b, pp. 73–74; Pepin, p. 36); Second Vatican Mythographer, 13 (Pepin, 106), 173 (Pepin, p. 171); Third Vatican Mythographer, 13.4 (Pepin, p. 324). According to Ogden, 2013b, p. 74, "creoboros is a genuine Greek word and does indeed mean 'flesh-devouring', but it has no part to play in the genuine etymology of Cerberus's name, which remains obscure". Another suggested etymology derives Cerberus from , meaning "evil of the pit".Room, p. 88.
Descriptions Descriptions of Cerberus vary, including the number of his heads. Cerberus was usually three-headed, though not always. Cerberus had several multi-headed relatives: his father was the multi snake-footed Typhon,Hesiod, Theogony 300–314, Acusilaus, fragment 6 (Freeman, p. 15), Hyginus, Fabulae Preface, 151 , and Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica (or Fall of Troy) 6.260–268 (pp. 272–275) all have Cerberus as the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, while Bacchylides, Ode 5.56–62, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 1097–1099, Callimachus, fragment 515 Pfeiffer (Trypanis, pp. 258–259), and Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.500–501, 7.406–409 all have Cerberus as the offspring of Echidna without naming a father. and Cerberus was the brother of three other multi-headed monsters, the multi-snake-headed Lernaean Hydra; Orthrus, the two-headed dog that guarded the Cattle of Geryon; and the Chimera, who had three heads: that of a lion, a goat, and a snake.Hesiod, Theogony 309–324 (although it is not certain whom Hesiod meant as the mother of the Chimera: Echidna, the Hydra, or Ceto); Apollodorus, 2.5.10, 2.3.1; Hyginus, Fabulae Preface. And, like these close relatives, Cerberus was, with only the rare iconographic exception, multi-headed.
In the earliest description of Cerberus, Hesiod's Theogony (c. 8th – 7th century BC), Cerberus has fifty heads, while Pindar (c. 522 – c. 443 BC) gave him one hundred heads.Gantz, p. 22; Ogden 2013a, p. 105, with n. 182; Hesiod, Theogony 311–312; Pindar, fragment F249a/b SM, from a lost Pindar poem on Heracles in the underworld, according to a scholia on the Iliad. However, later writers almost universally give Cerberus three heads.Ogden 2013a, pp. 105–106, with n. 183; Sophocles, Women of Trachis 22–25 ("three-bodied"), 1097–1099; Euripides, Heracles 610–611, 1276–1278; Virgil, Aeneid 6.417–421 ("triple-throated", "three fierce mouths"), Georgics 4.483 ("triple jaws"); Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.449–451 ("three-visaged mouths", "triple-barking"), 9.185 ("triple form"), 10.21–22 ("three necks"), 10.65–66 ("triple necks"), Heroides 9.93–94 (pp. 114–115) ("three-fold"); Seneca, Agamemnon 859–862 (pp. 198–199) ("triple chains"), Hercules Furens 60–62 (pp. 52–53) ("triple necks"), 782–784 (pp. 110–111); Statius, Silvae 2.1.183–184 (I pp. 90–91) ("triple jaws"), 3.3.27 (I pp. 168–169) ("threefold"), Thebaid, 2.31 (I pp. 396–397), ("threefold"), 2.53 (I pp. 398–399) ("tri-formed"); Propertius, Elegies 3.5.44 (pp. 234–237) ("three throats"), 3.18.23 (pp. 284–285) ("three heads") Apollodorus, 2.5.12 ("three heads of dogs"). An exception is the Latin poet Horace's Cerberus which has a single dog head, and one hundred snake heads.West, David, p. 108; Ogden 2013a, p. 107; Horace, Odes 3.11.17–20 (West, David, pp. 101–103) ("a hundred snakes … triple-tongued"), Odes 2.13.33–36 ("hundred-headed"), Odes 2.19.29–32 ("triple tongue"). Perhaps trying to reconcile these competing traditions, Apollodorus's Cerberus has three dog heads and the heads of "all sorts of snakes" along his back, while the Byzantine poet John Tzetzes (who probably based his account on Apollodorus) gives Cerberus fifty heads, three of which were dog heads, the rest being the "heads of other beasts of all sorts".Apollodorus, 2.5.12; Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.36.389–392 (Greek: Kiessling, pp. 55–56; English translation: Berkowitz, p. 48); Frazer's note 1 to Apollodorus, 2.5.12.
In art Cerberus is most commonly depicted with two dog heads (visible), never more than three, but occasionally with only one.Smallwood, p. 87; Gantz, p. 22; Ogden 2013a, p. 106. According to Gantz, "Presumably the frequent variant of two heads arose from logistical problems in draftmanship," and Ogden wonders if "such images salute or establish a tradition of a two-headed Cerberus, or are we to imagine a third head concealed behind the two that can be seen?" For one-headed Cerberus, see LIMC Herakles 2553, 2570, 2576, 2591, 2621. On one of the two earliest depictions (c. 590–580 BC), a Corinthian cup from Argos (see below), now lost, Cerberus was shown as a normal single-headed dog.LIMC Herakles 2553 (Smallwood, pp. 87, 97–98); Gantz, p. 22; Ogden 2013a, p. 106, with n. 184. A relief pithos fragment (c. 590–570 BC) LIMC Herakles 2621 (Smallwood, p. 92), seems to show a single lion-headed Cerberus, with snake (open-mouthed) over his back. The first appearance of a three-headed Cerberus occurs on a mid-sixth-century BC Laconian cup (see below).LIMC Herakles 2605 (Smallwood, p. 91); Schefold 1992, p. 129; Gantz, p. 22; Ogden 2013a, p. 106, with n. 185.
Horace's many snake-headed Cerberus followed a long tradition of Cerberus being part snake. This is perhaps already implied as early as in Hesiod's Theogony, where Cerberus' mother is the half-snake Echidna, and his father the snake-headed Typhon. In art, Cerberus is often shown as being part snake,Ogden 2013b, p. 63. for example the lost Corinthian cup showed snakes protruding from Cerberus' body, while the mid sixth-century BC Laconian cup gives Cerberus a snake for a tail. In the literary record, the first certain indication of Cerberus' serpentine nature comes from the rationalized account of Hecataeus of Miletus (fl. 500–494 BC), who makes Cerberus a large poisonous snake.Hecataeus of Miletus, fr. *27 a Fowler (Fowler 2000, p. 136) (apud Pausanias, 3.25.4–5), (cf. FGrH 1 F27); Ogden 2013a, p. 107. Plato refers to Cerberus' composite nature,Plato Republic 588c. and Euphorion of Chalcis (3rd century BC) describes Cerberus as having multiple snake tails,Euphorian, fragment 71 Lightfoot (Lightfoot, pp. 300–303; Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–70); Ogden 2013a, p. 107. and presumably in connection to his serpentine nature, associates Cerberus with the creation of the poisonous aconite plant.Euphorion, fragment 41a Lightfoot, (Lightfoot, pp. 272–275 = Herodorus fragment 31 Fowler). Virgil has snakes writhe around Cerberus' neck,Virgil, Aeneid 6.419, Ovid's Cerberus has a venomous mouth,Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.500–501. necks "vile with snakes",Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.22–24 and "hair inwoven with the threatening snake",Ovid, Heroides 9.93–94 (pp. 114–115). while Seneca gives Cerberus a mane consisting of snakes, and a single snake tail.Seneca, Hercules Furens 785–812 (pp. 112–113). See also Lucan, Pharsalia 6.664–665, which has Cerberus' heads "bristling" with snakes; and Apollodorus, 2.5.12 whose Cerberus is snake-tailed and has "on his back the heads of all sorts of snakes".
Cerberus was given various other traits. According to Euripides, Cerberus not only had three heads but three bodies,Euripides Heracles 22–25. and according to Virgil he had multiple backs.Virgil, Aeneid 6.422. Cerberus ate raw flesh (according to Hesiod),Hesiod, Theogony 311. had eyes which flashed fire (according to Euphorion), a three-tongued mouth (according to Horace), and acute hearing (according to Seneca).Seneca, Hercules Furens 788–791 (pp. 112–113).
Twelfth Labour of Heracles
Cerberus' only mythology concerns his capture by Heracles.For discussions of Heracles' capture of Cerberus, see Gantz, pp. 413–416; Hard, pp. 268–269; Ogden 2013a, pp. 104–115. As early as Homer we learn that Heracles was sent by Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns, to bring back Cerberus from Hades the king of the underworld.Homer, Iliad 8.367–368; compare with Odyssey 11.620–626. Heracles is also given the task by Eurystheus in Hecataeus of Miletus, fr. *27 a Fowler (Fowler 2000, p. 136) (apud Pausanias, 3.25.4–5), (cf. FGrH 1 F27), Euripides, Heracles 1276–1278, Pirithous TrGF 43 F1 lines 10–14 (Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–70; Collard and Cropp, pp. 646–647); Euphorian, fragment 71 Lightfoot (Lightfoot, pp. 300–303; Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–70); Diodorus Siculus, 4.25.1; Hyginus, Fabulae 32. According to Apollodorus, this was the twelfth and final labour imposed on Heracles.Apollodorus, 2.5.12. So also in Euphorian, fragment 71 Lightfoot 13 (Lightfoot, pp. 300–303; Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–70), and Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.36.388–410 (Greek: Kiessling, pp. 55–56; English translation: Berkowitz, p. 48). Euripides, Heracles 22–25, calls this labor the last. However according to Diodorus Siculus, 4.25.2 this labor was the eleventh and next to last, the twelfth being stealing the Apples of the Hesperides. In a fragment from a lost play Pirithous, (attributed to either Euripides or Critias) Heracles says that, although Eurystheus commanded him to bring back Cerberus, it was not from any desire to see Cerberus, but only because Eurystheus thought that the task was impossible.Pirthous TrGF 43 F1 lines 10–14 (Ogden 2013b, p. 70; Collard and Cropp, pp. 646–647); Ogden 2013a, p. 113.