Ancient mythology. It was he who was tamed by Hercules, performing his eleventh labor.
What is Cerberus?
According to mythology, Cerberus is a dog who serves Hades in the underworld. His task is to guard the entrance to afterworld. That's why he was nicknamed "hell dog." The surprising thing is that the dog let everything through to Hades dead Souls, while affectionately greeting them, wagging his tail. But if suddenly some soul wanted to leave the afterlife, then Cerberus turned from a lap dog into a terrible monster. What could Cerberus do that everyone was afraid of him? According to legends, he devoured the soul, thereby fulfilling his purpose - not releasing the dead into the world of the living.
Based on the legends, the parents of Cerberus were Echidna and Typhon. In addition to Cerberus, they had many more children, among them the Lernaean Hydra and the Nemean Lion.
Appearance
The hellhound's appearance has been described in various ways. Classic version formed during the Roman Empire. To the question of what Cerberus is, at that time one could hear the answer - a story about a huge three-headed dog. Sometimes the monster was described as if its middle head resembled the head of a lion.
More early versions were as follows:
- Cerberus was a two-headed dog that had a snake tail instead of the usual one.
- Then, to the question of what Cerberus is, a new version answer. Now he turned out to be the same guardian of the Underground Kingdom, but with one head. True, the snakes that wriggled on the back, stomach and neck of the animal added to its exoticism.
Cerberus and Hercules
We all remember the punishment Hercules received from the gods of Olympus. The demigod had to perform 12 labors in the service of King Eurystheus. Let us remember that the son of Zeus received punishment for killing his family: his wife and children. This happened because of Hera, who stupefied the hero’s mind.
The feat in which Cerberus took part was the eleventh in a row. King Eurystheus of Tiryns ordered Hercules to descend into the Underworld of Hades and bring the hellhound to court.
Hercules went to carry out the assignment. Along the way, he freed Theseus from torment. The young man was chained to a rock for trying to kidnap Hades' wife Persephone. Theseus's assistant in this matter, Perithous, was chained next to him. But, unfortunately, the gods of Olympus decided to continue the torment of the young man. They sent a sign: the earth shook when the demigod touched Perithous's hand. Hercules realized the anger of the gods, left him and went further in search of the hellhound.
But what is Cerberus (Kerberus) in ancient world? In this version, he is described as a three-headed dog with the same snakes on his back, but at the tip of his tail there was a large dragon head. It was just such a monster that Hercules had to tame. What did Cerberus have to do for this? Defeat him in battle.
After this, the hero led him out of the kingdom of Hades and took him to the king. But Eurystheus was so frightened of the dog that he immediately ordered Hercules to return him back to the afterlife, which the son of Zeus did.
Who could resist Cerberus?
Hercules is not the only hero in mythology who was able to resist the hellhound. Other ancient heroes also guessed what Cerberus was and how to deal with it. The dog was outwitted by Aeneas and Psyche by drugging him with a sleeping potion. And Orpheus was able to pass by him with the help of music, lulling the monster to sleep with the melody.
Cerberus is mentioned several times in legends. But this character is also used in modern literature and cinema. Children can get acquainted with Cerberus in animated series, for example "Pony. Friendship is a miracle." Adults may encounter it on the pages modern books. Some authors who write books in the fantasy genre also use Cerberus to spice up the plot. As one example, take the book “Goddess of Spring” by the author Phyllis Christina Kast.
In ancient times Greek mythology Cerberus is described as a legendary dog with three heads. A monstrous dog guards the gates to Hades, gloomy underworld dead souls, from which no one can leave without the permission of the gods. And the living will not penetrate into the world of the dead, because the gate is guarded by the three-headed monster Cerberus, the infernal protector of the underworld.
IN ancient world Dogs were usually considered wild animals, and until they became domesticated they wandered the streets and fed on the outskirts of cities. The mythical Cerberus included not only all the terrible qualities of dogs, but also represented a collection of terrible creatures.
The ancient Greeks depicted Cerberus as a monstrously strong three-headed dog with lion claws. The terrible monster was depicted as a “hellish watchman” with the tail of a snake, and even a mane made from a snake ball.
The three heads of the guardian of the underworld are believed to symbolize the past, present and future, although other authors believe that they represent birth, youth and old age. A very powerful weapon of Cerberus is hidden in a look so terrible that anyone who looked into his eyes immediately turned to cold stone!
Legends say that the teeth of the three-headed monster were the sharpest blades, and its bite was deadly poisonous, like the saliva itself. If a drop of poison fell on the ground, then a wolf plant would sprout in that place.
CEBERUS'S PARENTS.
Cerberus' father was Typhon, a powerful and extremely dangerous monster in ancient Greek mythology (in addition to being a god). A giant and a giant with bright red eyes and, as they said, the lord of the fiery forces was so powerful that even the gods of Olympus.
Wherever Typhon appeared, he brought disaster and violence. The goal of the evil monster was to destroy the world and to interfere with Zeus on his way to the Heavenly Kingdom. The mother of the nightmarish three-headed monster was Echidna, a half-woman and half-serpent creature called "the mother of all monsters."Echidna's eyes were black, his head and body beautiful woman, but the lower half of the body was a snake. The mother of monsters lived in a cave, where she attracted people to be devoured due to her beauty.
CERBERUS IS THE GUARDIAN OF THE DOORS OF THE HELL.
Cerberus's main mission was to guard the Greek underworld and be a faithful servant of the god Hades. His favorite place was the banks of the River Styx, which bordered the border.
Cerberus guarded the gates of Hades, preventing the dead from escaping, and also guarded the entrance from the living, not allowing entry without the permission of his master. Chained to the gates of the Acheron, another river of the Underworld, Cerberus was loyal to the dead or newly arrived spirits, but devoured all who tried to return to the world of the living, trying to pass the gates of hell.
Cerberus is cited in various mythological stories as the "guardian of hell", and there are even a couple of Greek myths in which the hero defeats the monster. First, there is Orpheus, the famous musician of Greek mythology, who sneaked into the underworld and lulled a beast to sleep with his lyre (a type of harp). Usually a vigilant and aggressive guard, Cerberus, having listened to the wondrous sound, simply fell asleep.
The Thracian singer was revered in Greece and happily married the nymph Eurydice. However, she was bitten by a snake and died. Orpheus was so inconsolable by the loss that he boldly rushed on a dangerous journey to the Underworld, wanting to bring Eurydice into the world of the living by any means necessary.The hopeless and strange undertaking was crowned with success, since the music so charmed Charon (the ferryman who helps the souls of the dead cross the River Styx) that the boatman undertook to translate Orpheus, a living man. Having met Cerberus, Orpheus managed to force the three-headed monster to lie obediently on the ground, lulled by the music of his lyre, after which the man was able to easily cross the gates of Hades.
Hades and his wife Persephone agreed that Orpheus would take his beloved with the condition: when ascending to the world of the living, Eurydice would follow Orpheus, but he was strictly forbidden to look back and look at his wife.
Alas, having reached the surface, Orpheus apparently felt the delight of being reunited with his beloved, and turned to look at his beloved... she immediately became a ghost and was sent back to the kingdom of the dead, this time forever.
HERCULES DEFEATED CERBERUS.
The most famous story Cerberus has its hero Hercules, a half-god half-man. Eurytheus, king of Tirins, demanded that Hercules capture and bring Cerberus to the world of the living. But Euristeo was convinced that Hercules would fail in this impossible mission.
However, Hercules, having come to the Underworld, talked with Hades and asked: if I can defeat Cerberus without using any weapons, will you allow me to take the monster? When Hercules met Cerberus on the shores of Acheron, he began to fight the huge monster using only his bare hands.
Even being the most strong man in the world, Hercules needed all his might to conquer a strong monster. Soon the monster was exhausted from the fight with the demigod and finally surrendered to Hercules. Cerberus is one of the few creatures that survived his meeting with Hercules. Unlike other mythological characters who crossed the path of Hercules, Cerberus returned to his place of duty intact, continuing to guard the doors world of the dead shower.
In many books ancient mythology Cerberus appears, although it differs somewhat among different authors. For example, in the hell presented by Dante, it is not the entire underworld that is shown, but the third circle of hell - this is the circle of gluttony, and Cerberus serves to personify uncontrolled appetite.
Norse history also has an equivalent to Cerberus, where Hell is guarded by a four-eyed dog named Garm. In Egypt, his embodiment was Anubis, the dog-headed god, guardian of tombs, who accompanied souls on their way to the underworld. A number of authors report that Cerberus had fifty or even a hundred heads, and in other descriptions he appears as a lion with wings, a dog and a wolf.
In ancient Greek mythology, one of the most terrible monsters is considered to be a three-headed dog named Cerberus (in Greek Kerberus), which guards the entrance to Hell and serves Hades (the god of the Kingdom of the Dead). The spirits of the dead are allowed to enter the foggy and gloomy underworld, but no one is allowed to leave. In ancient times, dogs, like wild animals, roamed the outskirts of cities, which is apparently why such an image appeared in mythology. But the image of Cerberus is also terrible because he has snakes on his back and head, and a dragon’s tail. This strange mixture of several creatures in one is a nightmarish sight.
"Cerberus" comes from the Greek "Kerberos", meaning "spotted". Cerberus was a monstrous three-headed dog or devil with the tail of a snake, snakes for a mane, and the claws of a lion. According to some sources, his three heads represent the past, present and future. Other sources suggest that the heads are symbols of childhood, youth and old age. The most murderous gaze was that of Cerberus. Anyone he looked at immediately turned to stone. Cerberus had razor-sharp teeth and a poisonous bite. Where saliva dripped from the three mouths onto the ground, they grew poisonous plants, known as wolfsbane.
Charon's Boat, José Benlure y Gil, 1919
Cerberus' father was Typhon, a powerful and deadly god-like monster in Greek mythology. He had a hundred dragon heads, a hundred wings, and fiery glowing eyes. The Olympian gods were afraid of him. Wherever Typhon appeared, fear and disaster spread. His mission was to destroy the world and create obstacles for Zeus on his way to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Cerberus's mother was Echidna, half woman and half snake. She is known in Greek mythology as the mother of all monsters. She had black eyes, the head and half of the body of a beautiful woman, and the lower part was the body of a snake. In the cave where she lived, she lured men with her body and ate them alive.
Cerberus' main task was to guard the Greek underworld and faithfully serve the god Hades. Cerberus, on the banks of the River Styx, which forms the border between Earth and the Underworld, guarded the gates of hell and guarded the souls of the dead from escaping back. Cerberus gently wagged his tail to all the souls of the dead who entered, but cruelly tore into pieces anyone who tried to go back through the gate and return to earth to the living.
The Legend of Orpheus and Eurydice
Cerberus appears as the "watchdog of hell" in many myths.
One of the myths when Orpheus, the greatest musician of Greek mythology, makes his way into the underworld, lulling the aggressive Cerberus to sleep with the sounds of his lyre. The Thracian singer Orpheus, revered in Greece, was happily married to the nymph Eurydice. But one day she was bitten by a snake, and Eurydice died. Orpheus was so overwhelmed by the grief of his loss that he stopped singing and playing.He decided to risk his life and went on a desperate journey to the underworld to save Eurydice. With his playing of the lyre (an instrument similar to a harp), Orpheus charmed the ferryman Charon.
Charon transported only the souls of the dead across the River Styx, but agreed to take Orpheus even though he was alive. At the entrance, Orpheus encountered the three-headed monster Cerberus, who, at the sound of the lyre, also obediently lay down, and Orpheus was able to pass into the underworld.
Orpheus saving Eurydice, painting Jean Baptiste Camille
Hades and his wife Persephone allowed Eurydice to go back with Orpheus to the upper world on one condition: Eurydice would have to follow Orpheus, but he would be forbidden to look back at her. Before they reached the surface, Orpheus was so overcome by passion that he turned to look at Eurydice. The singer immediately turned into a ghost and remained forever in the underworld.
In Greek mythology, Cerberus or, as he was also called, Kerberus, is a terrible creature that guarded the entrance to the other world of Hades. Cerberus did not let people out of the kingdom of the dead into the world of the living and vice versa. He devoured those who tried to escape from the underworld.
Cerberus was a three-headed dog with a dragon's head at the end of its snake tail. The fur on his back was replaced Poisonous snakes. Instead of drool, poison flowed from his mouth.
According to one legend, in order to appease the formidable monster, honey gingerbread was left in the coffin of the deceased. In some myths, Cerberus had 50 or even 100 heads. And in other descriptions he had a human body with one dog's head on his shoulders and two arms in which were the heads of a goat and a bull.
The head of a bull struck a person with its deadly breath, and the head of a goat killed with its gaze.
Cerberus is the most terrible descendant of Echidna and Typhon, their offspring also include the Lernaean Hydra and the Nemean Lion.
Cerberus and Orpheus
The first who managed to pacify the terrible monster was the legendary Orpheus, the son of Apollo. He needed to get into the underworld to bring back his late wife Eurydice. Orpheus was able to charm Cerberus with his beautiful music and he let him pass.
But, unfortunately, Orpheus was unable to lead her out of the other world of Hades, since he violated one condition. The son of Apollo looked back to see if his beloved was following him. Therefore, Eurydice is forever imprisoned in the kingdom of the dead.
Cerberus and Aeneas
The Trojan prince Aeneas, son of Venus, went to the underworld to meet his father Anchises and consult with him about where best to build new town Trojans. According to Greek mythology, Aeneas wanted to fight Cerberus, taking the sword he went to the domain of the god of the dead Hades.
But the soothsayer Sibyl stopped him, claiming that there was another way to get past the formidable dog. To help Aeneas, she prepared honey cakes, which she then soaked in wine from a sleeping herb.
And when they approached the gates of the underworld, the Sibyl threw these cakes to Cerberus. He ate them and fell asleep. In the other world, Aeneas met the shadow of his father Anchises, who predicted a great future for him.
The fight between Cerberus and Hercules
Hercules descended into the kingdom of the dead twice. The first time, on the orders of King Eurystheus, he was supposed to bring Cerberus from the other world. This was his last and twelfth labor.
Appearing before the god of the dead Hades, Hercules respectfully turned to him with a request to allow him to deliver the three-headed dog to Mycenae to demonstrate it to King Eurystheus. Hades was cruel and gloomy, but still could not refuse the son of the greatest god of thunder and lightning, Zeus.
However, Hades told him that he would give up Cerberus only on one condition: Hercules had to pacify the evil monster without weapons. For a long time Hercules looked for Cerberus in the other world, and discovered him on the banks of the Acheron River.
Ancient Greek myths surprise with the originality of their characters. However, with Cerberus, the inhabitants of Hellas did not try to be too clever, although they endowed the animal with terrifying features. Who else will guard the approaches to the most terrible place on earth - the kingdom of the dead? Of course, a dog, albeit not an ordinary one.
Origin and image
Cerberus in ancient Greek mythology is perhaps the most terrible creature, capable of terrifying even the bravest hero and warrior. In Latin, the name of the hellhound is listed as “Cerberus”, which translated means “souls of the dead” and “devourer”. The ugly monster is the product of Typhon and Echidna.
The giant and the gigantic half-woman, half-snake gave birth to two more children, brother and sister Cerberus. An equally monstrous dog, Orff, with two heads, guarded the herd that belonged to the giant Geryon, and the Lernaean Hydra, a snake-like creature with poisonous breath, guarded the underwater entrance to the kingdom of the dead.
Cerberus, of course, also had the fate of a watchman, but compared to his brother and sister, he enjoyed the greatest respect for his bad character and excessive aggressiveness.
The appearance of a mythological character completes the creepy image. The back is crowned with three heads with evil eyes, a long snake tail flaunts on the back of the body, and ominous snakes swarm on the neck and stomach. However, according to other sources, the creature is represented with fifty, or even a hundred heads. And in the Roman era, the middle head was that of a lion. Sometimes Cerberus even looks like a man with a dog's head.
The ancient Greeks depicted the mouth of Cerberus with sharp fangs. A poisonous mixture dripped from the dog's tongue white. According to legend, when Hercules pulled the monster out of the dungeon, Cerberus vomited on the ground from the sunlight. As a result, the herb aconite grew, from which Medea later prepared deadly potions.
Life's work dangerous dog became serving God faithfully. Cerberus’s duty is to guard the exit from the world of the dead, so that not a single soul that has gone “to the next world” will be able to return back to people. And, as is known from myths, attempts to escape were not uncommon. At the same time, the dog greets new guests (necessarily deceased) cordially, wagging his tail cutely. An aggressive creature is not so hospitable to living souls, so in legends heroes try to bribe it in every possible way. For example, the one who came for his dead beloved delighted Cerberus’ ears with the sounds of the lyre and eventually put the ominous dog to sleep.
Cerberus and Hercules
The three-headed dog is strong and scary. Attempts to defeat the guard Hades were made more than once, but only a brave strongman succeeded. The story of pacifying a monster from the underworld became the hero’s 12th and final feat. The evil king Eurystheus, who wondered about destroying Hercules, asked the ancient Greek hero to bring him to the throne legendary dog.
Hades did not want to give up his faithful guard just like that - he made concessions only after the hero hit him in the shoulder with an arrow. The ruler of the underworld allowed Cerberus to be taken, but with one condition - if Hercules defeats him without weapons. The glorious warrior dressed himself in lion skins and attacked the fierce animal, trying to strangle it. Cerberus never managed to fight off uninvited guest dragon's tail and fell at his feet.
At the sight of the monster, the cowardly king Eurystheus was seized with horror, and he freed Hercules from hard work. And by the way, he ordered the dog to be returned to its place in the underworld.
In literature and cinema
Cerberus often becomes a hero literary works, and also appears on movie screens.
In ancient Greek and Roman literature, the character is found in, and. IN " Divine Comedy» Cerberus is the guardian of the third circle of hell, where gluttons and gourmets suffer, destined to rot under the pouring rain and the merciless rays of the sun.
Writers sometimes use the image of a three-headed dog in an allegorical sense. in the work “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”, already in the epigraph he began to criticize the autocracy with the words: “The monster is loud, mischievous, huge, yawning and barking.” The expression is mixed from two fragments of Virgil’s Aeneid, which talks about the Cyclops Polyphemus and Cerberus. Later, the line turned into a catchphrase used to describe any negative event that has a public resonance.
Modern literature also uses the image of this hellish monster. In the novel "Harry Potter and philosopher's Stone“Cerberus, although scary, evokes tenderness. A huge dog with three heads was raised, who named him Fluff. The dog guards the entrance to the dungeon where the philosopher's stone is kept. The hero is distinguished by one feature - he falls asleep at any sound of music. , and put the guard to sleep with the help of a flute, as in the myth of Orpheus.
Fluff from the movie "Harry Potter" An interesting appearance of a fierce dog in a movie happened in 2005. In Cerberus, directed by John Terleski, the characters hunt for a sword kept in the lost tomb of the great Hun Attila. The weapon gives the owner invulnerability and power over the whole world. However, the magical relic is jealously guarded by a monstrous dog. The film stars Greg Evigan, Garrett Sato, Bogdan Uritescu and other actors.
- Naturalist and physician Carl Linnaeus, who lived in the 18th century, gave the name of the ancient Greek monster amazing plant, which is usually found in the lands of Africa, Australia and India. The poisonous flowering tree contains a powerful toxin that can kill humans. WITH light hand Botany began to call the plant Cerbera (Cerberus).
Plant "Cerberus" - On the eve of the World Cup, which is scheduled for 2018, a scandal occurred. A sculpture of Cerberus created by artists Vladimir and Victoria Kirilenko was illegally installed in a Sochi city park. The monument was conceived as a symbol of the championship's amulet: a mythical dog in bronze guards the ball. A statue two meters high and weighing a ton grew in the city center, but the mayor's office ordered the dismantling of this object.