Orpheus lost his beautiful wife Eurydice when she stepped on a poisonous snake and was bitten.

Other famous myths involving Cerberus are the myths of Orpheus and Aeneas, both of whom tricked Cerberus into letting them pass into the Underworld. According to Apollodorus, Hercules then returned the beast to the Underworld but other sources state that Cerberus escaped and returned home on his own. Everyone who saw the beast was overcome with fear, including King Eurystheus who hid in a great jar when he saw it. Hercules took Cerberus out of the Underworld and led him to King Eurystheus court. Heracles Takes Cerberus to the Land of the Living After a long struggle and getting bitten by Cerberus’ serpent tail, Hercules put the beast in a stranglehold and held on until Cerberus finally submitted to his will. Since Heracles wasn’t allowed to harm the Hound of Hades, he wrestled with the beast using nothing but his bare hands. Persephone spoke to her husband and Hades finally gave Heracles his permission to take Cerberus, on the condition that his hound would not be harmed and would be safely returned to him. He told her about the Labor and asked her permission to take Cerberus back with him, promising to return him once the task was complete. Instead of taking Cerberus and risking the revenge of the powerful Hades, Heracles spoke to Hades’ wife, Persephone. The most well known involves Persephone, wife of Hades and the Queen of the Underworld. There are several verisons of how Hercules captured the hell hound. By Wilhelm Janson, Public Domain, Hades Speaks to Persephone The twelfth and final Labor was to bring back Cerberus from the realm of Hades. Cerberus, however, was best known for his encounter with Hercacles which the beast survived. At the time, Heracles was serving King Eurystheus of Tiryns who had set him twelve impossible labors to complete. Many of Cerberus’ siblings were famous for having been slain by Greek heroes. In addition to guarding the gates, he also patrolled the banks of the River Styx, which formed the boundary between the Underworld and the Earth.Ĭerberus also haunted the banks of Acheron, another river that ran through the Underworld, fawning on new, dead spirits as they entered but savagely eating any that tried to go back through the gates into the land of the living without the permission of his master.Īlthough Cerberus was a fearsome, terrifying monster that guarded the Underworld diligently, there are several myths which tell of Greek heroes and mortals such as Theseus, Orpheus and Pirithous who managed to make it past the hell hound and successfully enter the realm of Hades. He was faithful to his master, Hades, the god of the Underworld and served him well.

As the watchdog of the Underworld, Cerberus’ role was to guard the Gates of Hell, preventing the dead from escaping and protecting it from any unwanted intruders. Cerberus Role in Greek MythologyĪlthough Cerberus was called a ‘hell hound’, he wasn’t known to be evil.

When the animal bayed, all farmers who cultivated the land near the realm of Hades would run away, terrified at the sound.Ĭerberus’ three heads were thought to symbolize the past, present and future while some sources say they represented birth, youth and old age. Euripides states that Cerberus had three bodies as well as the three heads, while Virgil mentions that the animal had many backs.Īccording to various other writers including Hesiod, Euphorion, Horace and Seneca, the animal had fire flashing from his eyes, three tongues and extremely acute hearing.Īccording to the Greek writer, Ovid, Cerberus saliva was extremely poisonous and was used as an ingredient in poisons made by the sorceress Medea and the Erinyes. Having multiple heads was common in Cerberus’ family since his father and many of his siblings were also multi-headed.Ĭerberus apart from the three dog heads and many snake heads along his back, the Hound of Hades had the tail of a serpent and lion’s claws. He was known to have had three heads, but some accounts say he had even more (although this could have been including his mane of snake heads). There are various descriptions of Cerberus.

Hades dog cerberus