To Hell and Back: a Look at the Mythological Life of Cerberus

To Hell and Back: A Look at the Mythological Life of Cerberus

There was a certain demon that patrolled the gates of Hades in classical Greek mythology. Known and feared by many as Cerberus (Also known as Kerberos), this impeccable canine-like monster was known to allow anyone to pass freely into the underworld, Hades, but make it his mission to let none escape from inside, regardless of how they had entered. What exactly is Cerberus, and where did he originate? What tales depict Cerberus as a character from within them, and what were his roles in these myths? For what reasons would the cultures of old come up with such a beast? One must research to find out all aspects of this mythological beast, in character and in role, to compare and contrast the many stories and descriptions of
Cerberus. Only after can one come up with a legitimate response to such questions.
“Cerberus was the guardian of the Greek Underworld, and a faithful servant of Hades
(the god who ruled that gloomy realm). He was represented as a grotesque dog who had three heads (although the poet Hesiod claims that Cerberus had fifty heads - quite an extravagant number), all of which snarled at those foolish enough to attempt to leave the Underworld; the dog also had the tail of a serpent.” (Loggia.com). The beast was best known to be represented as a gruesome dog-like creature that had three heads, a mane of snake heads (because of the snake heads, sometimes depicted as having 50 heads) and the tail of a serpent. (Loggia.com). It is also a widespread theory that the three heads may have consisted of the middle head being that of a lion, and the other two the heads of a dog and wolf, respectively. According to Joel Levy, Cerberus was known to have the disposition of a pit-bull Rottweiler in a butcher’s shop. He had bright, vicious eyes and a blood red tongue. The beast was a slobbery one, with polished claws and a sleek, reptilian coat. The serpentine tail was poisonous. “Like the Gorgons, Cerberus was so dreadful to behold that anyone that looked upon him was turned to stone.”(Levy). Perhaps the Greeks and other cultures came about the concept of a multi-headed beast to guard the way out of the underworld, as more eyes are more watchful – meaning slipping past Cerberus or slipping past death would be that much more difficult. The frightfully effective description of this gruesome
“watchdog” may be symbolic to its time period in history, to show that people were able to escape neither the underworld, nor death. Myths and stories were passed down from generation to generation, and for the most part many people believed in myths and gods, making the “watchdog” an accurate conceptual symbol of the everlasting clutch of the after- life. The origins of Cerberus are mostly the same, regardless of what sources are accounted for. “…the Hound of Hell is first explicitly called Cerberus. The offspring of Echidna and Typhon, a brother of Geryon’s dog, Orthus, and the Hydra of Lerna.” (McKay 388). Echidna was a half nymph, half speckled snake, while Typhoeus was a fire breathing dragon with one hundred heads. According to J. M. Hunt, these two great beasts were known to mate often in Greek mythology, birthing many terrifying beasts that are now scattered throughout the tales of mythology. (Hunt). Some of these beasts worth noting are said to be Cerberus’ siblings, most well known of these being the Chimera and Hydra, and his brother Orthrus, the two-headed hellhound. (Loggia.com). It is likely that many of the terrifying creatures from mythology are unable to have a realistic origin of parents, because, for the most part, the creatures are unlike any creature known to exist in reality. Giving a realistic parent to an unrealistic creature that is unlike nothing else would be conflicting with its credibility and may sunder their believability when it came to storytelling, and so the creatures are unique in their own right. The Typhous –
Echidna theory of them parenting a vast majority of the monster population is perhaps just an easy and convenient way to explain the origins of such things where the lack of a realistic example would not be available to myth-tellers and the like. The monster Cerberus plays a few roles in mythological stories. “…the role Cerberus played in frightening shades and preventing egress from the underworld…” (Leary 314). The main role of the beast was to guard the link between the living and the dead. Between Earth and the Underworld, it was his duty to make sure that it was not breached from either side. It is legitimately valid that Cerberus could have been a symbol of death, for once you went to the underworld, it was because of him that you could not ever leave – making him a way to describe the horrors of death and how you cannot escape it. In the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, Orpheus descends into the depths of the underworld to reclaim his lost wife, and as Bullfinch expands on, the second thing he mentions to the deities of the underworld is that he is not there to try his strength against the three- headed beast that guards the entrance. (Bullfinch 151). Perhaps as a symbol of the transformation from life to death, the strength of Cerberus can in no way be matched or ever tried to begin with. The creature that guards the dead from becoming alive again, the link between life and death – cannot be matched in strength. There is no escaping death, and there is no outsmarting death. In the tale of the Sibyl, the Sibyl throws a medicated cake to Cerberus to put him to sleep. As the Sibyl was granted many extra years of like from Apollo, and in this way was, in a way, conquering death. If Cerberus can be construed as such a creature to symbolize death and it’s inability to be escaped from, it would explain why the Sibyl was allowed to bypass it – on account of her god-given lifespan that made her conquer her own would–be natural death. If Cerberus is a symbol of the power and force of death, than it is accurate to explain why the concept of this beast was used as a tool to describe how no one in times of mythology could escape death. Death is inevitable and for this reason the people of old could have come up with Cerberus to help better explain it all. A truly terrifying beast that could represent death, keep the living from meeting with the dead and vice versa. This is one logical response to the mystery and undoing of the mythological legend of Cerberus.

Works Cited
Bullfinch, Thomas. Bullfinch’s Mythology. New York: Fuller, 1959.
Hunt, J. M. “Greek Mythology Creature”. 20 Nov 2007.
<http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/scaffold/gg/creature.html#cerberus>.
Leary, T. J. “Getting Out of Hell: Petronius 72.5ff”. The Classic Quarterly@2000. 313-314.
20 Nov 2007. JSTOR<http://www.jstor.org/view/00098388/ap050230/05a0036
0/0>.
Levy, Joel. A Natural History of the Unnatural World. St. Martin’s Press, 1999.
Loggia.com "Cerberus in Greek Mytholgy." Loggia.com. Based on Mythography: Exploring
Greek, Roman, and Celtic Mythology and Art, © Loggia.com, 1997-2006. 20 Nov
2007. <http://www.loggia.com/myth/http://www.loggia.com/myth/cerberus.html>.
McKay, John. “Stentor and Hesiod.” The American Journal of Philology@1959. 383-388. 20
Nov2007. JSTOR<http://www.jstor.org/view/00029475/ap010316/01a00060/2?fram e=noframe&userID=184b3ff0@niagaracc.suny.edu/01c0a8346b00501ccfa03&dpi=3 &config=jstor>.

Cited: Bullfinch, Thomas. Bullfinch’s Mythology. New York: Fuller, 1959. Levy, Joel. A Natural History of the Unnatural World. St. Martin’s Press, 1999. Loggia.com "Cerberus in Greek Mytholgy." Loggia.com. Based on Mythography: Exploring Greek, Roman, and Celtic Mythology and Art, © Loggia.com, 1997-2006