Cerberus: A Life In Greek Mythology

In ancient, or Greek times dogs weren’t thought of the same as they are today. Back then they were thought of as wild animals that ran in packs on the edge of town who scavenged. But this dog wasn’t the same, Cerberus was huge three headed hellhound dog with lion claws and a mane of snakes. Cerberus’s name comes from the Greek word Kerberos, which means spotted. And as everybody knew Cerberus for his occupation. He was the watchdog or guard of Hades. You can even spot Cerberus on the job during the Disney movie Hercules.

Cerberus had many people in his life. He had his mother, Echidna. Echidna is a half - woman, half - snake monster. She was known as the “ mother of all monsters”. Next would be his father Typhon. Typhon is a deadly

creature in Greek Mythology. He is said to be a huge fire breathing dragon have glowing red eyes, a hundred heads, and hundreds of wings. Next Cerberus was a brother to his many siblings. He had Orthrus, which was a two headed dog, similar to his brother. Next Hydra, she was a many headed water serpent type of monster. Next Chimera, she was a fire breathing female monster resembling a lion in the forepart, a goat in the middle, and a dragon behind. Next is Ladon, he was a serpent like dragon type of creature. Next is Sphinx, she is creature with a head of a woman wings of a griffon and a bodice of a lion. Cerberus has a few other siblings. But last but not least is Hades the person. Hades is the ruler of Hades the place. Yes Hades is also called Hades, weird right. Anyway Hades is the owner of Cerberus.
There appears to be many myths about the Cerberus. Some myths are about each head of the Cerberus standing for something like past, present, and future. And how each head could tell a being their past present or future depending on the head. Another myth about Cerberus’s head that is similar to the past, present, or future one. Except each head could tell a being about one’s birth, youth, and old age. There was this story that was told that if you were to stare into Cerberus’s eyes you would turn to stone, just like Medusa did to people. The last myth would be that later on Cerberus was released from Hades, and was in a position to join the gods in a more humane immortal form.
Hades was an interesting place, it’s actually where Cerberus works and lives.

Hades is a deep dark sacrey underworld where spirits of the dead are permitted to enter but none to leave. Cerberus Enjoyed hunting along the banks of the Styx River for any souls the tried to escape Hades. Styx River is the boundary between the realm of the dead and Earth. Strange thing about Cerberus, Since there wasn’t a constant flow of dead souls coming into Hades Cerberus would get bored. Which then resulted him to get excited about new arrivals of deceased. Another weird thing about Hades is that in vampire mythology it’s said that there is a container of vampire souls in Hades. Vampires were allowed to enter Hades since they were already dead, but just like dead humans once they entered Hades they were not allowed to exit. common one was when he was defeated by Hercules. When Hercules fought Cerberus with his bare hands and won on the shore of Acheron. That one was pretty epic. The next one was when Orpheus defeated Cerberus by putting Cerberus to sleep by playing his lyre. A lyre is a type of instrument. And the last one was when Orpheus beat him a second time by drugging Cerberus through a cake. Which then followed Cerberus to fall

asleep.

Cerberus was a strong beast but there was times when he was beaten. The most common one was when he was defeated by Hercules. When Hercules fought Cerberus with his bare hands and won on the shore of Acheron. That one was pretty epic. The next one was when Orpheus defeated Cerberus by putting Cerberus to sleep by playing his lyre. A lyre is a type of instrument. And the last one was when Orpheus beat him a second time by drugging Cerberus through a cake. Which then followed Cerberus to fall asleep.
Cerberus was a pretty interesting creature with a lot of stories and facts about himself to tell. Like how he was not only in Greek literature but he was also in Roman literature too. One thing was that Cerberus’s saliva was poisonous that would drip from his mouth onto the ground. Then a plant would grow from his saliva, the plant was wolfsbane. Another thing that many people might know Cerberus for was that he was the last labor given to Hercules. Cerberus was an interesting topic and there has been so many authors in many different time eras that Cerberus’s appearance and overall story has changed many times. So his story might have gone through many rounds of the game telephone.