Cerberus had to submit to the force of the hero, and Hercules brought Cerberus to Eurystheus. The dragon in the tail of the fierce flesh-eating guard dog bit Hercules, but that did not stop him. Undaunted, the hero threw his strong arms around the beast, perhaps grasping all three heads at once, and wrestled Cerberus into submission. Near the gates of Acheron, one of the five rivers of the Underworld, Hercules encountered Cerberus. The lord of the Underworld replied that Hercules could indeed take Cerberus with him, but only if he overpowered the beast with nothing more than his own brute strength.Ī weaponless Hercules set off to find Cerberus. He even engaged in a wrestling contest! Then, finally, he found Pluto and asked the god for Cerberus. He encountered monsters, heroes, and ghosts as he made his way through Hades. Through a deep, rocky cave, Hercules made his way down to the Underworld. Hercules went to a place called Taenarum in Laconia. After the hero met a few conditions of membership, Eumolpus initiated Hercules into the mysteries. The ancients believed that those who learned the secrets of the mysteries would have happiness in the Underworld. The mysteries were sacred religious rites which celebrated the myth of Demeter and her daughter Persephone. The hero went to Eleusis and saw Eumolpus, a priest who began what were known as the Eleusinian Mysteries. Hercules knew that once in the kingdom of Hades, he might not be allowed to leave and rejoin the living. This was, after all, a journey from which no mortal had ever returned. Photograph by Maria Daniels, courtesy of the Musée du Louvreīefore making the trip to the Underworld, Hercules decided that he should take some extra precautions. Compared to these unfortunate family members, Cerberus was actually rather lucky. Hercules seemed to have a lot of experience dealing with this family: he killed Orthus, when he stole the cattle of Geryon, and strangled the Nemean Lion. The Chimaera was a three-headed fire-breathing monster, part lion, part snake, and part goat. With the Chimaera, Orthus fathered the Nemean Lion and the Sphinx. Orthus was a two-headed hound which guarded the cattle of Geryon. Even the gods of Olympus were afraid of Typhon.Īmong the children attributed to this awful couple were Orthus (or Othros), the Hydra of Lerna, and the Chimaera. A monster not to be overcome and that may not be described, Cerberus who eats raw flesh, the brazen-voiced hound of Hades, fifty-headed, relentless and strong.Ĭerberus' parents were the monster Echinda (half-woman, half-serpent) and Typhon (a fire-breathing giant covered with dragons and serpents). Hesiod, though, says that Cerberus had fifty heads and devoured raw flesh. According to Apollodorus, Cerberus was a strange mixture of creatures: he had three heads of wild dogs, a dragon or serpent for a tail, and heads of snakes all over his back. Photograph by Maria Daniels, courtesy of the Toledo Museum of ArtĬerberus was a vicious beast that guarded the entrance to Hades and kept the living from entering the world of the dead. Main panel:Hercules and Cerberus, upper half All souls, whether good or bad, were destined for the kingdom of Hades. Depending on how a person lived his or her life, they might or might not experience never-ending punishment in Hades. The Underworld was the kingdom of Hades, also called Pluto, and his wife, Persephone. The ancient Greeks believed that after a person died, his or her spirit went to the world below and dwelled for eternity in the depths of the earth. Eurystheus must have been sure Hercules would never succeed at this impossible task! Eurystheus ordered Hercules to go to the Underworld and kidnap the beast called Cerberus (or Kerberos). The most dangerous labor of all was the twelfth and final one.
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