Cerberus

In Greek mythology, Cerberus ( or ; Kérberos ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon, and was usually described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from multiple parts of his body. Cerberus is primarily known for his capture by Heracles, the last of Heracles' twelve labours.
== Etymology ==
The etymology of Cerberus' name is uncertain. OgdenOgden 2013a, p. 105. refers to attempts to establish an Indo-European etymology as "not yet successful". It has been claimed to be related to the Sanskrit word सर्वरा sarvarā, used as an epithet of one of the dogs of Yama, from a Proto-Indo-European word *k̑érberos, meaning "spotted". Lincoln (1991),Lincoln, pp. 96–97. among others, critiques this etymology. This etymology was also rejected by Manfred Mayrhofer, who proposed an Austro-Asiatic origin for the word,Mayrhofer, Kurzgefaßtes Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen s.v. karbaraḥ and Robert S. P. Beekes.Beekes, R. S. P., Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 1:678. Lincoln notes a similarity between Cerberus and the Norse mythological dog Garmr, relating both names to a Proto-Indo-European root *ger- "to growl" (perhaps with the suffixes -*m/*b and -*r). However, as Ogden observes, this analysis actually requires Kerberos and Garmr to be derived from two different Indo-European roots (*ker- and *gher- respectively), and so does not actually establish a relationship between the two names.
Though probably not Greek, Greek etymologies for Cerberus have been offered. An etymology given by Servius (the late-fourth-century commentator on Virgil)—but rejected by Ogden—derives Cerberus from the Greek word creoboros meaning "flesh-devouring".Servius on Virgil, Aeneid 6.395; Ogden 2013a, p. 190; compare with Fulgentius, Mythologies 1.6 (Whitbread, pp. 51–52); First Vatican Mythographer, 1.57 (Ogden 2013b, pp. 73–74; Pepin, p. 36); Second Vatican Mythographer, 13 (Pepin, 106), 173 (Pepin, p. 171); Third Vatican Mythographer, 13.4 (Pepin, p. 324). According to Ogden, 2013b, p. 74, "creoboros is a genuine Greek word and does indeed mean 'flesh-devouring', but it has no part to play in the genuine etymology of Cerberus's name, which remains obscure". Another suggested etymology derives Cerberus from "Ker berethrou", meaning "evil of the pit".Room, p. 88.
== Descriptions ==
Descriptions of Cerberus vary, including the number of his heads. Cerberus was usually three-headed, though not always. Cerberus had several multi-headed relatives. His father was the multi snake-headed Typhon,Hesiod, Theogony 300–314, Acusilaus, fragment 6 (Freeman, p. 15), Hyginus, Fabulae Preface, 151, and Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica (or Fall of Troy) 6.260–268 (pp. 272–275) all have Cerberus as the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, while Bacchylides, Ode 5.56–62, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 1097–1099, Callimachus, fragment 515 Pfeiffer (Trypanis, pp. 258–259), and Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.500–501, 7.406–409 all have Cerberus as the offspring of Echidna without naming a father. and Cerberus was the brother of three other multi-headed monsters, the multi-snake-headed Lernaean Hydra; Orthrus, the two-headed dog that guarded the Cattle of Geryon; and the Chimera, who had three heads: that of a lion, a goat, and a snake.Hesiod, Theogony 309–324 (although it is not certain whom Hesiod meant as the mother of the Chimera: Echidna, the Hydra, or Ceto); Apollodorus, 2.5.10, 2.3.1; Hyginus, Fabulae Preface. And, like these close relatives, Cerberus was, with only the rare iconographic exception, multi-headed.
In the earliest description of Cerberus, Hesiod's Theogony (c. 8th – 7th century BCE), Cerberus has fifty heads, while Pindar (c. 522 – c. 443 BCE) gave him one hundred heads.Gantz, p. 22; Ogden 2013a, p. 105, with n. 182; Hesiod, Theogony 311–312; Pindar, fragment F249a/b SM, from a lost Pindar poem on Heracles in the underworld, according to a scholia on the Iliad. However, later writers almost universally give Cerberus three heads.Ogden 2013a, pp. 105–106, with n. 183; Sophocles, Women of Trachis 22–25 ("three-bodied"), 1097–1099; Euripides, Heracles 610–611, 1276–1278; Virgil, Aeneid 6.417–421 ("triple-throated", "three fierce mouths"), Georgics 4.483 ("triple jaws"); Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.449–451 ("three-visaged mouths", "triple-barking"), 9.185 ("triple form"), 10.21–22 ("three necks"), 10.65–66 ("triple necks"), Heroides 9.93–94 (pp. 114–115) ("three-fold") Seneca, Agamemnon 859–862 (pp. 198–199) ("triple chains"), Hercules Furens 60–62 (pp. 52–53) ("triple necks"), 782–784 (pp. 110–111); Statius, Silvae 2.1.183–184 (I pp. 90–91) ("triple jaws"), 3.3.27 (I pp. 168–169) ("threefold"), Thebaid, 2.31 (I pp. 396–397), ("threefold"), 2.53 (I pp. 398–399) ("tri-formed"); Propertius, Elegies 3.5.44 (pp. 234–237) ("three throats"), 3.18.23 (pp. 284–285) ("three heads") Apollodorus, 2.5.12 ("three heads of dogs"). An exception is the Latin poet Horace's Cerberus which has a single dog head, and one hundred snake heads.West, David, p. 108; Ogden 2013a, p. 107; Horace, Odes 3.11.17–20 (West, David, pp. 101–103) ("a hundred snakes … triple-tongued"), Odes 2.13.33–36 ("hundred-headed"), Odes 2.19.29–32 ("triple tongue"). Perhaps trying to reconcile these competing traditions, Apollodorus's Cerberus has three dog heads and the heads of "all sorts of snakes" along his back, while the Byzantine poet John Tzetzes (who probably based his account on Apollodorus) gives Cerberus fifty heads, three of which were dog heads, the rest being the "heads of other beasts of all sorts".Apollodorus, 2.5.12; Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.36.389–392 (Greek: Kiessling, pp. 55–56; English translation: Berkowitz, p. 48); Frazer's note 1 to Apollodorus, 2.5.12.
In art Cerberus is most commonly depicted with two dog heads (visible), never more than three, but occasionally with only one.Smallwood, p. 87; Gantz, p. 22; Ogden 2013a, p. 106. According to Gantz, "Presumably the frequent variant of two heads arose from logistical problems in draftmanship," and Ogden wonders if "such images salute or establish a tradition of a two-headed Cerberus, or are we to imagine a third head concealed behind the two that can be seen?" For one-headed Cerberus, see LIMC Herakles 2553, 2570, 2576, 2591, 2621. On one of the two earliest depictions (c. 590–580 BCE), a Corinthian cup from Argos (see below), now lost, Cerberus was shown as a normal single-headed dog.LIMC Herakles 2553 (Smallwood, pp. 87, 97–98); Gantz, p. 22; Ogden 2013a, p. 106, with n. 184. A relief pithos fragment (c. 590–570 BCE) LIMC Herakles 2621 (Smallwood, p. 92), seems to show a single lion-headed Cerberus, with snake (open-mouthed) over his back. The first appearance of a three-headed Cerberus occurs on a mid-sixth-century BCE Laconian cup (see below).LIMC Herakles 2605 (Smallwood, p. 91); Schefold 1992, p. 129; Gantz, p. 22; Ogden 2013a, p. 106, with n. 185.
Horace's many snake-headed Cerberus followed a long tradition of Cerberus being part snake. This is perhaps already implied as early as in Hesiod's Theogony, where Cerberus' mother is the half-snake Echidna, and his father the snake-headed Typhon. In art, Cerberus is often shown as being part snake,Ogden 2013b, p. 63. for example the lost Corinthian cup showed snakes protruding from Cerberus' body, while the mid sixth-century BC Laconian cup gives Cerberus a snake for a tail. In the literary record, the first certain indication of Cerberus' serpentine nature comes from the rationalized account of Hecataeus of Miletus (fl. 500–494 BCE), who makes Cerberus a large poisonous snake.Hecataeus of Miletus, fr. *27 a Fowler (Fowler 2000, p. 136) (apud Pausanias, 3.25.4–5), (cf. FGrH 1 F27); Ogden 2013a, p. 107. Plato refers to Cerberus' composite nature,Plato Republic 588c. and Euphorion of Chalcis (3rd century BCE) describes Cerberus as having multiple snake tails,Euphorian, fragment 71 Lightfoot (Lightfoot, pp. 300–303; Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–70); Ogden 2013a, p. 107. and presumably in connection to his serpentine nature, associates Cerberus with the creation of the poisonous aconite plant.Euphorion, fragment 41a Lightfoot, (Lightfoot, pp. 272–275 = Herodorus fragment 31 Fowler). Virgil has snakes writhe around Cerberus' neck,Virgil, Aeneid 6.419, Ovid's Cerberus has a venomous mouth,Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.500–501. necks "vile with snakes",Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.22–24 and "hair inwoven with the threatening snake",Ovid, Heroides 9.93–94 (pp. 114–115). while Seneca gives Cerberus a mane consisting of snakes, and a single snake tail.Seneca, Hercules Furens 785–812 (pp. 112–113). See also Lucan, Pharsalia 6.664–665, which has Cerberus' heads "bristling" with snakes; and Apollodorus, 2.5.12 whose Cerberus is snake-tailed and has "on his back the heads of all sorts of snakes".
Cerberus was given various other traits. According to Euripides, Cerberus not only had three heads but three bodies,Euripides Heracles] 22–25. and according to Virgil he had multiple backs.Virgil, Aeneid 6.422. Cerberus ate raw flesh (according to Hesiod),Hesiod, Theogony 311. had eyes which flashed fire (according to Euphorion), a three-tongued mouth (according to Horace), and acute hearing (according to Seneca).Seneca, Hercules Furens 788–791 (pp. 112–113).
== The Twelfth Labour of Heracles ==
Cerberus' only mythology concerns his capture by Heracles.For discussions of Heracles' capture of Cerberus, see Gantz, pp. 413–416; Hard, pp. 268–269; Ogden 2013a, pp. 104–115. As early as Homer we learn that Heracles was sent by Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns, to bring back Cerberus from Hades the king of the underworld.Homer, Iliad 8.367–368; compare with Odyssey 11.620–626. Heracles is also given the task by Eurystheus in Hecataeus of Miletus, fr. *27 a Fowler (Fowler 2000, p. 136) (apud Pausanias, 3.25.4–5), (cf. FGrH 1 F27), Euripides, Heracles 1276–1278, Pirithous TrGF 43 F1 lines 10–14 (Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–70; Collard and Cropp, pp. 646–647); Euphorian, fragment 71 Lightfoot (Lightfoot, pp. 300–303; Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–70); Diodorus Siculus], 4.25.1; Hyginus, Fabulae 32. According to Apollodorus, this was the twelfth and final labour imposed on Heracles.Apollodorus, 2.5.12. So also in Euphorian, fragment 71 Lightfoot 13 (Lightfoot, pp. 300–303; Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–70), and Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.36.388–410 (Greek: Kiessling, pp. 55–56; English translation: Berkowitz, p. 48). Euripides, Heracles 22–25, calls this labor the last. However according to Diodorus Siculus, 4.25.2 this labor was the eleventh and next to last, the twelfth being stealing the Apples of the Hesperides. In a fragment from a lost play Pirithous, (attributed to either Euripides or Critias) Heracles says that, although Eurystheus commanded him to bring back Cerberus, it was not from any desire to see Cerberus, but only because Eurystheus thought that the task was impossible.Pirthous TrGF 43 F1 lines 10–14 (Ogden 2013b, p. 70; Collard and Cropp, pp. 646–647); Ogden 2013a, p. 113.
Heracles was aided in his mission by his being an initiate of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Euripides has his initiation being "lucky" for Heracles in capturing Cerberus.Euripides Heracles 612–613; Papadopoulou, p. 163. And both Diodorus Siculus and Apollodorus say that Heracles was initiated into the Mysteries, in preparation for his descent into the underworld. According to Diodorus, Heracles went to Athens, where Musaeus, the son of Orpheus, was in charge of the initiation rites,Diodorus Siculus, 4.25.1–2. while according to Apollodorus, he went to Eumolpus at Eleusis.Apollodorus, 2.5.12; so also, Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.36.394 (Greek: Kiessling, pp. 55–56; English translation: Berkowitz, p. 48). Apollodorus adds that, since it was unlawful for foreigners to be initiated, Heracles was adopted by Pylius, and that before Heracles could be initiated, he first had to be "cleansed of the slaughter of the centaurs"; see also Frazer's note 2 to Apollodorus, 2.5.12.
Heracles also had the help of Hermes, the usual guide of the underworld, as well as Athena. In the Odyssey, Homer has Hermes and Athena as his guides.Homer, Odyssey 11.620–626; compare with Pausanias, 8.18.3. Apollodorus, 2.5.1 also has Hermes aiding Heracles in the underworld. And Hermes and Athena are often shown with Heracles on vase paintings depicting Cerberus' capture. By most accounts, Heracles made his descent into the underworld through an entrance at Tainaron, the most famous of the various Greek entrances to the underworld.Ogden 2013a, p. 110; Fowler 2013, p. 305 with n. 159. An entrance at Tainaron is mentioned as early as Pindar, Pythian 4.44. The place is first mentioned in connection with the Cerberus story in the rationalized account of Hecataeus of Miletus (fl. 500–494 BCE), and Euripides, Seneca], and Apolodorus, all have Heracles descend into the underworld there.Hecataeus of Miletus, fr. *27 a Fowler (Fowler 2000, p. 136) (apud Pausanias, 3.25.4–5), (cf. FGrH 1 F27); Euripides, Heracles 22–25; Seneca, Hercules Furens 662–696 (pp. 102–105); Apollodorus, 2.5.1, so also Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.36.395 (Greek: Kiessling, pp. 55–56; English translation: Berkowitz, p. 48). However Xenophon reports that Heracles was said to have descended at the Acherusian Chersonese near Heraclea Pontica, on the Black Sea, a place more usually associated with Heracles' exit from the underworld (see below).Xenophon of Athens, Anabasis 6.2.2. Heraclea, founded c. 560 BCE, perhaps took its name from the association of its site with Heracles' Cerberian exploit.Ogden 2013a, p. 108.
=== Theseus and Pirithous ===
While in the underworld, Heracles met the heroes Theseus and Pirithous, where the two companions were being held prisoner by Hades for attempting to carry off Hades' wife Persephone. Along with bringing back Cerberus, Heracles also managed (usually) to rescue Theseus, and in some versions Pirithous as well.Gantz, pp. 291–295. According to Apollodorus, Heracles found Theseus and Pirithous near the gates of Hades, bound to the "Chair of Forgetfulness, to which they grew and were held fast by coils of serpents", and when they saw Heracles, "they stretched out their hands as if they should be raised from the dead by his might", and Heracles was able to free Theseus, but when he tried to raise up Pirithous, "the earth quaked and he let go."Apollodorus, 2.5.12, E.1.24; compare with Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.36.396–410, 4.31.911–916 (Greek: Kiessling, pp. 55–56, 153; English translation: Berkowitz, pp. 48, 138).
The earliest evidence for the involvement of Theseus and Pirithous in the Cerberus story, is found on a shield-band relief (c. 560 BCE) from Olympia, where Theseus and Pirithous (named) are seated together on a chair, arms held out in supplication, while Heracles approaches, about to draw his sword.LIMC Herakles 3519; Gantz, p. 292; Schelfold 1966, pp. 68–69 fig. 24. The earliest literary mention of the rescue occurs in Euripides, where Heracles saves Theseus (with no mention of Pirithous).Euripides Heracles 1169–1170., :1221–1222; Gantz, p. 293. In the lost play Pirithous, both heroes are rescued,Gantz, P. 293; Collard and Cropp, p. 637; Pirithous TrGF 43 F1 Hypothesis (Collard and Cropp, pp. 640–641). while in the rationalized account of Philochorus, Heracles was able to rescue Theseus, but not Pirithous.Philochorus, FGrH 328 F18a, b, c; Harding, pp. 67–70; Ogden 2013b, p. 73; Ogden 2013a, p. 109 (Philochorus F18a = Plutarch, Theseus 35.1, compare with 31.1–4). In one place Diodorus says Heracles brought back both Theseus and Pirithous, by the favor of Persephone,Diodorus Siculus, 4.26.1. while in another he says that Pirithous remained in Hades, or according to "some writers of myth" that neither Theseus, nor Pirithous returned.Diodorus Siculus, 4.63.4; Gantz, pp. 294–295. Both are rescued in Hyginus.Hyginus, Fabulae 79.
=== Capture===
There are various versions of how Heracles accomplished Cerberus' capture.Ogden 2013a, pp. 110–112. According to Apollodorus, Heracles asked Hades for Cerberus, and Hades told Heracles he would allow him to take Cerberus only if he "mastered him without the use of the weapons which he carried", and so, using his lion-skin as a shield, Heracles squeezed Cerberus around the head until he submitted.Apollodorus, 2.5.1; compare with Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.36.400–401 (Greek: Kiessling, pp. 55–56; English translation: Berkowitz, p. 48) which says that Heracles mastered Cerberus "Covered only by his lion skin and breast piece / Apart from the rest of his weapons, just as Pluton [i.e. Hades] said".
In some early sources Cerberus' capture seems to involve Heracles fighting Hades. Homer (Iliad 5.395–397) has Hades injured by an arrow shot by Heracles.Homer, Iliad 5.395–397; Kirk, p. 102; Ogden 2013a, pp. 110–111; Gantz, pp. 70, 414, 416. Panyassis F26 West (West, M. L., (pp. 212–213) has "Elean Hades" being shot by Heracles. Compare with Seneca, Hercules Furens 48–51 (pp. 52–53), where Heracles brings back "spoils of triumph over that conquered king … subdued Dis". A scholium to the Iliad passage, explains that Hades had commanded that Heracles "master Cerberus without shield or Iron".Schol. Homer Iliad 5.395–397 (Ogden 2013b, p. 66); Ogden 2013a, p. 112; Gantz, p. 416. Heracles did this, by (as in Apollodorus) using his lion-skin instead of his shield, and making stone points for his arrows, but when Hades still opposed him, Heracles shot Hades in anger. Consistent with the no iron requirement, on an early-sixth-century BCE lost Corinthian cup, Heracles is shown attacking Hades with a stone,Smallwood, pp. 96–97; Ogden 2013a, p. 111. while the iconographic tradition, from c. 560 BCE, often shows Heracles using his wooden club against Cerberus.Ogden 2013a, p. 111.
Euripides has Amphitryon ask Heracles: "Did you conquer him in fight, or receive him from the goddess [i.e. Persephone]? To which Heracles answers: "In fight",Euripides Heracles 610–613; Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–70. This question is echoed in Seneca, Hercules Furens 760–761 (pp. 110–111), where Amphitryon asks "Is it spoil [Heracles] brings, or a willing gift from his uncle. and the Pirithous fragment says that Heracles "overcame the beast by force".Pirithous TrGF 43 F1 Hypothesis (Collard and Cropp, pp. 640–641). However, according to Diodorus, Persephone welcomed Heracles "like a brother" and gave Cerberus "in chains" to Heracles.Diodorus Siculus, 4.26.1. Aristophanes has Heracles seize Cerberus in a stranglehold and run off,Aristophanes, The Frogs 465–469; Ogden 2013b, pp. 65–66. while Seneca has Heracles again use his lion-skin as shield, and his wooden club, to subdue Cerberus, after which a quailing Hades and Persephone allow Heracles to lead a chained and submissive Cerberus away.Seneca, Hercules Furens 797–812 (pp. 112–113). Cerberus is often shown being chained, and Ovid tells that Heracles dragged the three headed Cerberus with chains of adamant.Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.409–413.
=== Exit from the underworld ===
There were several locations which were said to be the place where Heracles brought up Cerberus from the underworld.Ogden 2013a, pp. 107–108, 112–113. The geographer Strabo (63/64 BCE – c. 24 CE) reports that "according to the myth writers" Cerberus was brought up at Tainaron,Strabo, 8.5.1. the same place where Euripides has Heracles enter the underworld. Seneca has Heracles enter and exit at Tainaron.Seneca, Hercules Furens 663 (pp. 102–105) (entrance), 813 (pp. 112–113) (exit). Seneca's account may reflect a much older tradition rationalized by Hecataeus of Miletus, fr. *27 a Fowler (Fowler 2000, p. 136) (apud Pausanias, 3.25.4–5), (cf. FGrH 1 F27), see Ogden 2013a, p. 112. Apollodorus, although he has Heracles enter at Tainaron, has him exit at Troezen.Apollodorus, 2.5.12. Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.36.404 (Greek: Kiessling, pp. 55–56; English translation: Berkowitz, p. 48) also has Cerberus brought up at Troezen. The geographer Pausanias tells us that there was a temple at Troezen with "altars to the gods said to rule under the earth", where it was said that, in addition to Cerberus being "dragged" up by Heracles, Semele was supposed to have been brought up out of the underworld by Dionysus.Pausanias, 2.31.2.
Another tradition had Cerberus brought up at Heraclea Pontica (the same place which Xenophon had earlier associated with Heracles' descent) and the cause of the poisonous plant aconite which grew there in abundance.Ogden 2013a, pp. 107–108, 112; Ogden 2013b, pp. 68–69; Fowler 2013, pp. 305 ff.; Herodorus fragment 31 Fowler (= Euphorion fragment 41a Lightfoot); Euphorion, fragment 41 Lightfoot (Lightfoot, pp. 272–275); Diodorus Siculus, 14.31.3; Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.406–419; Pomponius Mela, 1.92; Pliny, Natural History 27.4; Schol. Nicander alexipharmaca 13b; Dionysius Periegetes, 788–792; Eustathius, Commentary on Dionysius Periegetes 788–792; First Vatican Mythographer, 1.57 (Ogden 2013b, pp. 73–74; Pepin, p. 36). For aconite in the vicinity of Heraclea, see also Theophrastus, Historia Plantarum 9.16.4 pp. 298–299; Strabo, 12.3.7; Pliny, Natural History 6.4; Arrian, FGrH 156 F76a apud Eustathius of Thessalonica, Commentary on Dionysius Periegetes 788–792. Herodorus of Heraclea and Euphorion said that when Heracles brought Cerberus up from the underworld at Heraclea, Cerberus "vomited bile" from which the aconite plant grew up.Schol. Apollonius of Rhodes Argonautica 2.353 (Ogden 2013b, p. 68); compare with Euphorion, fragment 41a Lightfoot, (Lightfoot, pp. 272–275 = Herodorus fragment 31 Fowler). Ovid, also makes Cerberus the cause of the poisonous aconite, saying that on the "shores of Scythia", upon leaving the underworld, as Cerberus was being dragged by Heracles from a cave, dazzled by the unaccustomed daylight, Cerberus spewed out a "poison-foam", which made the aconite plants growing there poisonous.Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.413–419, which has Cerberus brought up from the underworld through a cave on "the shores of Scythia, where, 'tis fabled, the [aconite] plant grew on soil infected by Cerberian teeth." Seneca's Cerberus too, like Ovid's, reacts violently to his first sight of daylight. Enraged, the previously submissive Cerberus struggles furiously, and Heracles and Theseus must together drag Cerberus into the light.Seneca, Hercules Furens 797–821 (pp. 112–115); see also Agamemnon, 859–862 (pp. 198–199), which has Cerberus "fearing the colour of the unknown light."
Pausanias reports that according to local legend Cerberus was brought up through a chasm in the earth dedicated to Clymenus (Hades) next to the sanctuary of Chthonia at Hermione, and in Euripides' Heracles, though Euripides does not say that Cerberus was brought out there, he has Cerberus kept for a while in the "grove of Chthonia" at Hermione.Pausanias, 2.35.10; Euripides, Heracles 615 (Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–70). Pausanias also mentions that at Mount Laphystion in Boeotia, that there was a statue of Heracles Charops ("with bright eyes"), where the Boeotians said Heracles brought up Cerberus.Pausanias, 9.34.5. Other locations which perhaps were also associated with Cerberus being brought out of the underworld include, Hierapolis, Thesprotia, and Emeia near Mycenae.Ogden 2013a, pp. 112–113.
=== Presented to Eurystheus, returned to Hades ===
In some accounts, after bringing Cerberus up from the underworld, Heracles paraded the captured Cerberus through Greece.Ogden 2013a, p. 113; Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–71. Euphorion has Heracles lead Cerberus through Midea in Argolis, as women and children watch in fear,Euphorian, fragment 71 Lightfoot 14–15 (Lightfoot, pp. 300–303; Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–70). and Diodorus Siculus says of Cerberus, that Heracles "carried him away to the amazement of all and exhibited him to men."Diodorus Siculus, 4.26.1. Seneca has Juno complain of Heracles "highhandedly parading the black hound through Argive cities"Seneca, Hercules Furens 46–62 (pp. 52–53). and Heracles greeted by laurel-wreathed crowds, "singing" his praises.Seneca, Hercules Furens 827–829 (pp. 114–115).
Then, according to Apollodorus, Heracles showed Cerberus to Eurystheus, as commanded, after which he returned Cerberus to the underworld.Apollodorus, 2.5.12. However, according to Hesychius of Alexandria, Cerberus escaped, presumably returning to the underworld on his own.Hesychius of Alexandria s.v. eleutheron hydor (Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–71); Ogden 2013a, p. 114.
== Principal sources ==
The earliest mentions of Cerberus (c. 8th – 7th century BCE) occur in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and Hesiod's Theogony.For a discussion of sources see Ogden 2013a, pp. 104–114; Ogden 2013b, pp. 63–74; Gantz, pp. 22–23, 413–416. Homer does not name or describe Cerberus, but simply refers to Heracles being sent by Eurystheus to fetch the "hound of Hades", with Hermes and Athena as his guides,Homer, Iliad 8.367–368, Odyssey 11.620–626. and, in a possible reference to Cerberus' capture, that Heracles shot Hades with an arrow.Homer, Iliad 5.395–397; Kirk, p. 102; Ogden 2013a, pp. 110–111; Gantz, pp. 70, 414, 416. According to Hesiod, Cerberus was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon, was fifty-headed, ate raw flesh, and was the "brazen-voiced hound of Hades",Hesiod, Theogony 300–312. who fawns on those that enter the house of Hades, but eats those who try to leave.Hesiod, Theogony 767–774; Ogden 2013b, pp. 65.
Stesichorus (c. 630 – 555 BCE) apparently wrote a poem called Cerberus, of which virtually nothing remains.Bowra, p. 94; Ogden 2013a, p. 105 n. 182. However the early-sixth-century BCE-lost Corinthian cup from Argos, which showed a single head, and snakes growing out from many places on his body,Gantz, p. 22; Ogden 2013a, p. 106, with n. 184; LIMC Herakles 2553. was possibly influenced by Stesichorus' poem.Bowra, p. 120. The mid-sixth-century BCE cup from Laconia gives Cerberus three heads and a snake tail, which eventually becomes the standard representation.Gantz, p. 22; Ogden 2013a, p. 106, with n. 185; LIMC Herakles 2605; Schefold 1992, p. 129; Pipili, fig. 8.
Pindar (c. 522 – c. 443 BCE) apparently gave Cerberus one hundred heads.Pindar fragment F249a/b SM, from a lost Pindar poem on Heracles in the underworld, according to a scholia on the Iliad, Gantz p. 22; Ogden 2013a, p. 105, with n. 182. Bacchylides (5th century BCE) also mentions Heracles bringing Cerberus up from the underworld, with no further details.Bacchylides, Ode 5.56–62. Sophocles (c. 495 – c. 405 BCE), in his Women of Trachis, makes Cerberus three-headed,Sophocles, Women of Trachis 1097–1099. and in his Oedipus at Colonus, the Chorus asks that Oedipus be allowed to pass the gates of the underworld undisturbed by Cerberus, called here the "untamable Watcher of Hades".Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1568–1578; Markantonatos, pp. 129–130. Euripides (c. 480 – 406 BCE) describes Cerberus as three-headed,Euripides Heracles 1276–1278. and three-bodied,Euripides Heracles 22–25. says that Heracles entered the underworld at Tainaron,Euripides Heracles 22–25. has Heracles say that Cerberus was not given to him by Persephone, but rather he fought and conquered Cerberus, "for I had been lucky enough to witness the rites of the initiated", an apparent reference to his initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries,Euripides Heracles 612–613; Papadopoulou, p. 163; Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–70. and says that the capture of Cerberus was the last of Heracles' labors.Euripides Heracles 22–25. The lost play Pirthous (attributed to either Euripides or his late contemporary Critias) has Heracles say that he came to the underworld at the command of Eurystheus, who had ordered him to bring back Cerberus alive, not because he wanted to see Cerberus, but only because Eurystheus thought Heracles would not be able to accomplish the task, and that Heracles "overcame the beast" and "received favour from the gods".Pirithous TrGF 43 F1 Hypothesis (Collard and Cropp, pp. 640–641). For the question of authorship see Gantz, p. 293; Collard and Cropp, pp. 629–635, p. 636.
Plato (c. 425 – 348 BCE) refers to Cerberus' composite nature, citing Cerberus, along with Scylla and the Chimera, as an example from "ancient fables" of a creature composed of many animal forms "grown together in one".Plato Republic 588c. Euphorion of Chalcis (3rd century BCE) describes Cerberus as having multiple snake tails, and eyes that flashed, like sparks from a blacksmith's forge, or the volcanic Mount Etna.Euphorian, fragment 71 Lightfoot (Lightfoot, pp. 300–303; Ogden 2013b, pp. 69–70); Ogden 2013a, p. 107. From Euphorion, also comes the first mention of a story which told that at Heraclea Pontica, where Cerberus was brought out of the underworld, by Heracles, Cerberus "vomited bile" from which the poisonous aconite plant grew up.Schol. Apollonius of Rhodes Argonautica 2.353 (Ogden 2013b, p. 68); compare with Euphorion, fragment 41a Lightfoot (Lightfoot, pp. 272–275).
According to Diodorus Siculus (1st century BCE), the capture of Cerberus was the eleventh of Heracles' labors, the twelfth and last being stealing the Apples of the Hesperides.Diodorus Siculus, 4.25.1, 26.1–2; Ogden 2013b, p. 66. Diodorus says that Heracles thought it best to first go to Athens to take part in the Eleusinian Mysteries, "Musaeus], the son of Orpheus, being at that time in charge of the initiatory rites", after which, he entered into the underworld "welcomed like a brother by Persephone", and "receiving the dog Cerberus in chains he carried him away to the amazement of all and exhibited him to men."
In Virgil's Aeneid (1st century BCE), Aeneas and the Sibyl encounter Cerberus in a cave, where he "lay at vast length", filling the cave "from end to end", blocking the entrance to the underworld. Cerberus is described as "triple-throated", with "three fierce mouths", multiple "large backs", and serpents writhing around his neck. The Sibyl throws Cerberus a loaf laced with honey and herbs to induce sleep, enabling Aeneas to enter the underworld, and so apparently for Virgil—contradicting Hesiod—Cerberus guarded the underworld against entrance.Virgil, Aeneid 6.417–425; Ogden 2013b, p. 71; Ogden 2013a, p, 109; Ogden 2013b, p. 69. Compare with Apuleius, The Golden Ass 6.19 (pp. 284–285), where following Virgil, exiting (as well as entering) the underworld is accomplished by giving Cerberus a mead-soaked barley cake. Later Virgil describes Cerberus, in his bloody cave, crouching over half-gnawed bones.Virgil, Aeneid 8.296–297. In his Georgics, Virgil refers to Cerberus, his "triple jaws agape" being tamed by Orpheus' playing his lyre.Virgil, Georgics 4.483.
Horace (65 – 8 BCE) also refers to Cerberus yielding to Orpheus' lyre, here Cerberus has a single dog head, which "like a Fury's is fortified by a hundred snakes", with a "triple-tongued mouth" oozing "fetid breath and gore".Horace, Odes 3.11.13–20; West, David, pp. 101–103; Ogden 2013a, p. 108. Compare with Odes 2.13.33–36 ("hundred-headed", referring perhaps to the one hundred snakes), Odes 2.19.29–32 ("triple tongue").
Ovid (43 BCE – 17/18 CE) has Cerberus' mouth produce venom,Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.500–501. and like Euphorion, makes Cerberus the cause of the poisonous plant aconite.Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.406 ff.; Ogden 2013a, p. 108. According to Ovid, Heracles dragged Cerberus from the underworld, emerging from a cave "where 'tis fabled, the plant grew / on soil infected by Cerberian teeth", and dazzled by the daylight, Cerberus spewed out a "poison-foam", which made the aconite plants growing there poisonous.
Seneca, in his tragedy Hercules Furens gives a detailed description of Cerberus and his capture.Seneca, Hercules Furens 782–821 (pp. 110–115); Ogden 2013b, pp. 66–68.
Seneca's Cerberus has three heads, a mane of snakes, and a snake tail, with his three heads being covered in gore, and licked by the many snakes which surround them, and with hearing so acute that he can hear "even ghosts".Seneca, Hercules Furens 782–791 (pp. 110–113). Seneca has Heracles use his lion-skin as shield, and his wooden club, to beat Cerberus into submission, after which Hades and Persephone, quailing on their thrones, let Heracles lead a chained and submissive Cerberus away. But upon leaving the underworld, at his first sight of daylight, a frightened Cerberus struggles furiously, and Heracles, with the help of Theseus (who had been held captive by Hades, but released, at Heracles' request) drag Cerberus into the light.Seneca, Hercules Furens 797–821 (pp. 112–115); see also Agamemnon, 859–862 (pp. 198–199), which has Cerberus "fearing the colour of the unknown light." Seneca, like Diodorus, has Heracles parade the captured Cerberus through Greece.Seneca], Hercules Furens 46–62 (pp. 52–53).
Apollodorus' Cerberus has three dog-heads, a serpent for a tail, and the heads of many snakes on his back.Apollodorus, 2.5.12; Ogden 2013b, pp. 64–65. According to Apollodorus, Heracles' twelfth and final labor was to bring back Cerberus from Hades. Heracles first went to Eumolpus to be initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries. Upon his entering the underworld, all the dead flee Heracles except for Meleager and the Gorgon Medusa. Heracles drew his sword against Medusa, but Hermes told Heracles that the dead are mere "empty phantoms". Heracles asked Hades (here called Pluto) for Cerberus, and Hades said that Heracles could take Cerberus provided he was able to subdue him without using weapons. Heracles found Cerberus at the gates of Acheron, and with his arms around Cerberus, though being bitten by Cerberus' serpent tail, Heracles squeezed until Cerberus submitted. Heracles carried Cerberus away, showed him to Eurystheus, then returned Cerberus to the underworld.
In an apparently unique version of the story, related by the sixth-century CE Pseudo-Nonnus, Heracles descended into Hades to abduct Persephone, and killed Cerberus on his way back up.Pseudo-Nonnus, 4.51 (Nimmo Smith, p. 37); Ogden 2013a, p. 114.
== Iconography ==
thumb|upright=1.3|One of the two earliest depictions of the capture of Cerberus (composed of the last five figures on the right) shows, from right to left: Cerberus, with a single dog head and snakes rising from his body, fleeing right, Hermes, with his characteristic hat (petasos) and caduceus, Heracles, with quiver on his back, stone in left hand, and bow in right, a goddess, standing in front of Hades' throne, facing Heracles, and Hades, with scepter, fleeing left. Drawing of a lost Corinthian cup (c. 590–580 BC) from Argos.
The capture of Cerberus was a popular theme in ancient Greek and Roman art.Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), Herakles 1697–1761 (Boardman, pp. 5–16), 2553–2675 (Smallwood, pp. 85–100); Schefold 1992, pp. 129–132. The earliest depictions date from the beginning of the sixth century BCE. One of the two earliest depictions, a Corinthian cup (c. 590–580 BCE) from Argos (now lost),LIMC Herakles 2553 (Smallwood, pp. 87, 97–98); Schefold 1966, p. 68 fig. 23; Schefold 1992, p. 129; Ogden 2013a, pp. 106, 111; Gantz, pp. 22, 413–414. shows a naked Heracles, with quiver on his back and bow in his right hand, striding left, accompanied by Hermes. Heracles threatens Hades with a stone, who flees left, while a goddess, perhaps Persephone or possibly Athena, standing in front of Hades' throne, prevents the attack. Cerberus, with a single canine head and snakes rising from his head and body, flees right. On the far right a column indicates the entrance to Hades' palace. Many of the elements of this scene—Hermes, Athena, Hades, Persephone, and a column or portico—are common occurrences in later works. The other earliest depiction, a relief pithos fragment from Crete (c. 590–570 BCE), is thought to show a single lion-headed Cerberus with a snake (open-mouthed) over his back being led to the right.LIMC Herakles 2621 (Smallwood, pp. 92, 97); Ogden 2013a, p. 108. Cerberus is perhaps being led by Heracles, but only the left arm is preserved. According to Smallwood, the identification as Heracles and Cerberus is "suggested by Dunbabin, taken as certain by Schäfer" (p. 92), and "too little of the fragment is preserved for a secure identification".
A mid-sixth-century BCE Laconian cup by the Hunt Painter adds several new features to the scene which also become common in later works: three heads, a snake tail, Cerberus' chain and Heracles' club. Here Cerberus has three canine heads, is covered by a shaggy coat of snakes, and has a tail which ends in a snake head. He is being held on a chain leash by Heracles who holds his club raised over head.LIMC Herakles 2605 (Smallwood, p. 91); Schefold 1992, pp. 129–130; Pipili, p. 5, fig. 8; Gantz, p. 22; Ogden 2013a, p. 106, 111 with n. 185, p. 111 with n. 230.
In Greek art, the vast majority of depictions of Heracles and Cerberus occur on Attic vases.Schefold 1992, p. 98. Although the lost Corinthian cup shows Cerberus with a single dog head, and the relief pithos fragment (c. 590–570 BCE) apparently shows a single lion-headed Cerberus, in Attic vase painting Cerberus usually has two dog heads.Schefold 1992, p. 129; Smallwood, p. 87. Exceptions include: LIMC Heracles 2570, 2576 (one head). In other art, as in the Laconian cup, Cerberus is usually three-headed.Smallwood, pp. 87, 93. Exceptions include: LIMC Herakles 2553, 2591, 2621 (one head), 2579 (two heads). Occasionally in Roman art Cerberus is shown with a large central lion head and two smaller dog heads on either side.LIMC Herakles 2640, 2642, 2656, 2666, Smallwood, p. 93.
As in the Corinthian and Laconian cups (and possibly the relief pithos fragment), Cerberus is often depicted as part snake.Smallwood, p. 87; Ogden 2013b p. 63. Examples include: LIMC Herakles 2553–4, 2560, 2571, 2579, 2581, 2586, 2588, 2595, 2600, 2603–6, 2610–11, 2616, 2621, 2628). In Attic vase painting, Cerberus is usually shown with a snake for a tail or a tail which ends in the head of a snake.Smallwood, p. 87. Snakes are also often shown rising from various parts of his body including snout, head, neck, back, ankles, and paws.
Two Attic amphoras from Vulci, one (c. 530–515 BCE) by the Bucci Painter (Munich 1493),LIMC Herakles 2604 (Smallwood, p. 91); Beazley Archive 301639. the other (c. 525–510 BCE) by the Andokides painter (Louvre F204),LIMC Herakles 2554 (Smallwood, pp. 87, 98); Schefold 1992, pp. 130–131, fig. 152; Beazley Archive 200011; Perseus Louvre F 204 (Vase). in addition to the usual two heads and snake tail, show Cerberus with a mane down his necks and back, another typical Cerberian feature of Attic vase painting.Smallwood, pp. 8, 91. Andokides' amphora also has a small snake curling up from each of Cerberus' two heads.
Besides this lion-like mane and the occasional lion-head mentioned above, Cerberus was sometimes shown with other leonine features. A pitcher (c. 530–500) shows Cerberus with mane and claws,LIMC Herakles 2610 (Smallwood, p. 91); Buitron, Worcester MA 1935.59; Beazley Archive 351415. while a first-century BCE sardonyx cameo shows Cerberus with leonine body and paws.LIMC Herakles 2628 (Smallwood, p. 93). In addition, a limestone relief fragment from Taranto (c. 320–300 BCE) shows Cerberus with three lion-like heads.LIMC Herakles 2618 (Smallwood, p. 92).
During the second quarter of the 5th century BCE the capture of Cerberus disappears from Attic vase painting.Smallwood, p. 98. After the early third century BCE, the subject becomes rare everywhere until the Roman period. In Roman art the capture of Cerberus is usually shown together with other labors. Heracles and Cerberus are usually alone, with Heracles leading Cerberus.Smallwood, p. 99.
==Cerberus rationalized==
At least as early as the 6th century BCE, some ancient writers attempted to explain away various fantastical features of Greek mythology;Stern, p. 7; Ogden 2013a, p. 183. included in these are various rationalized accounts of the Cerberus story.Ogden 2013a, pp. 184–185. The earliest such account (late 6th century BCE) is that of Hecataeus of Miletus.Hecataeus of Miletus, fr. *27 a Fowler (Fowler 2000, p. 136) (apud Pausanias, 3.25.4–5), (cf. FGrH 1 F27); Hawes, p. 8; Hopman, p. 182; Ogden 2013a, p. 107; Ogden 2013b, pp. 72–73. In his account Cerberus was not a dog at all, but rather simply a large venomous snake, which lived on Tainaron. The serpent was called the "hound of Hades" only because anyone bitten by it died immediately, and it was this snake that Heracles brought to Eurystheus. The geographer Pausanias (who preserves for us Hecataeus' version of the story) points out that, since Homer does not describe Cerberus, Hecataeus' account does not necessarily conflict with Homer, since Homer's "Hound of Hades" may not in fact refer to an actual dog.Pausanias, 3.25.6.
Other rationalized accounts make Cerberus out to be a normal dog. According to Palaephatus (4th century BCE)Palaephatus, On Unbelievable Tales 39 (Stern, pp. 71–72). Cerberus was one of the two dogs who guarded the cattle of Geryon, the other being Orthrus. Geryon lived in a city named Tricranium (in Greek Tricarenia, "Three-Heads"),Ogden 2013a, p. 187. from which name both Cerberus and Geryon came to be called "three-headed". Heracles killed Orthus, and drove away Geryon's cattle, with Cerberus following along behind. Molossus, a Mycenaen, offered to buy Cerberus from Eurystheus (presumably having received the dog, along with the cattle, from Heracles). But when Eurystheus refused, Molossus stole the dog and penned him up in a cave in Tainaron. Eurystheus commanded Heracles to find Cerberus and bring him back. After searching the entire Peloponnesus, Heracles found where it was said Cerberus was being held, went down into the cave, and brought up Cerberus, after which it was said: "Heracles descended through the cave into Hades and brought up Cerberus."
In the rationalized account of Philochorus, in which Heracles rescues Theseus, Perithous is eaten by Cerberus.Philochorus, FGrH 328 F18a (= Plutarch, Theseus 35.1), F18b, F18c; Harding, pp. 68–70; Ogden 2013b, p. 73; Ogden 2013a, p. 109; Gantz, p. 295; Collard and Cropp, p. 637. Compare with Plutarch, Theseus 31.1–4; Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.36.388–411 (Greek: Kiessling, pp. 55–56; English translation: Berkowitz, p. 48), 4.31.911–916 (Kiessling, p. 153; Berkowitz, p. 138). In this version of the story, Aidoneus (i.e., "Hades") is the mortal king of the Molossians, with a wife named Persephone, a daughter named Kore (another name for the goddess Persephone) and a large mortal dog named Cerberus, with whom all suitors of his daughter were required to fight. After having stolen Helen, to be Theseus' wife, Theseus and Perithous, attempt to abduct Kore, for Perithous, but Aidoneus catches the two heroes, imprisons Theseus, and feeds Perithous to Cerberus. Later, while a guest of Aidoneus, Heracles asks Aidoneus to release Theseus, as a favor, which Aidoneus grants.
A 2nd-century CE Greek known as Heraclitus the paradoxographer (not to be confused with the 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher Heraclitus)—claimed that Cerberus had two pups that were never away from their father, which made Cerberus appear to be three-headed.Ogden 2013b, p. 73.
==Cerberus allegorized==
Servius, a medieval commentator on Virgil's Aeneid, derived Cerberus' name from the Greek word creoboros meaning "flesh-devouring" (see above), and held that Cerberus symbolized the corpse-consuming earth, with Heracles' triumph over Cerberus representing his victory over earthly desires.Servius on Virgil, Aeneid 6.395; Ogden 2013a, p. 190. For others who followed Servius in interpreting Cerberus as symbolizing the corruption of flesh, in both the literal and moral senses, see Brumble, pp. 68–69. Later, the mythographer Fulgentius, allegorizes Cerberus' three heads as representing the three origins of human strife: "nature, cause, and accident", and (drawing on the same flesh-devouring etymology as Servius) as symbolizing "the three ages—infancy, youth, old age, at which death enters the world."Fulgentius, Mythologies 1.6 (Whitbread, pp. 51–52); Ogden 2013a, p. 190. The Byzantine historian and bishop Eusebius wrote that Cerberus was represented with three heads, because the positions of the sun above the earth are three—rising, midday, and setting.Eusebius, Preparation of the Gospels 3.11.16.
The later Vatican Mythographers repeat and expand upon the traditions of Servius and Fulgentius. All three Vatican Mythographers repeat Servius' derivation of Cerberus' name from creoboros.First Vatican Mythographer, 1.57 (Ogden 2013b, pp. 73–74; Pepin, p. 36); Second Vatican Mythographer, 173 (Pepin, p. 171); Third Vatican Mythographer, 13.4 (Pepin, p. 324). The Second Vatican Mythographer repeats (nearly word for word) what Fulgentius had to say about Cerberus,Second Vatican Mythographer, 13 (Pepin, p. 106). while the Third Vatican Mythographer, in another very similar passage to Fugentius', says (more specifically than Fugentius), that for "the philosophers" Cerberus represented hatred, his three heads symbolizing the three kinds of human hatred: natural, causal, and casual (i.e. accidental).Third Vatican Mythographer 6.22 (Pepin, p. 171).
The Second and Third Vatican Mythographers, note that the three brothers Zeus, Poseidon and Hades each have tripartite insignia, associating Hades' three-headed Cerberus, with Zeus' three-forked thunderbolt, and Poseidon's three-pronged trident, while the Third Vatican Mythographer adds that "some philosophers think of Cerberus as the tripartite earth: Asia, Africa, and Europe. This earth, swallowing up bodies, sends souls to Tartarus."Second Vatican Mythographer, 13 (Pepin, p. 106); Third Vatican Mythographer 6.22 (Pepin, p. 171). For others who associated Cerberus' three heads with the three continents see Brumble, p. 69.
Virgil described Cerberus as "ravenous" (fame rabida),Virgil, Aeneid 6.421. and a rapacious Cerberus became proverbial. Thus Cerberus came to symbolize avarice,Wilson-Okamura, p. 169; Brumble, p. 69. and so, for example, in Dante's Inferno, Cerberus is placed in the Third Circle of Hell, guarding over the gluttons, where he "rends the spirits, flays and quarters them,"Dante, Inferno 6.13–18 and Dante (perhaps echoing Servius' association of Cerberus with earth) has his guide Virgil take up handfuls of earth and throw them into Cerberus' "rapacious gullets."Dante, Inferno 6.25–27; Lansing, p. 154.
== Constellation ==
In the constellation Cerberus introduced by Johannes Hevelius in 1687, Cerberus is drawn as a three-headed snake, held in Hercules' hand (previously these stars had been depicted as a branch of the tree on which grew the Apples of the Hesperides).
==Snake genus==
In 1829 French naturalist Georges Cuvier gave the name Cerberus to a genus of Asian snakes, which are commonly called "dog-faced water snakes" in English.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 9781421401355 ("Cerberus", p. 50).
== See also ==
* List of Greek mythological creatures
* Ammit, a chthonic creature in Egyptian mythology
== Notes ==
== References ==
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* Apuleius, Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass), Volume I: Books 1–6. Edited and translated by J. Arthur Hanson. Loeb Classical Library No. 44. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1996. Online version at Harvard University Press.
* Aristophanes], The Frogs, Matthew Dillon, Ed., Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, 1995. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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* Bloomfield, Maurice, Cerberus, the Dog of Hades: The History of an Idea, Open Court publishing Company, 1905. Online version at Internet Archive
* Bowra, C. M., Greek Lyric Poetry: From Alcman to Simonides, Clarendon Press, 2001. ISBN 9780198143291
* Diodorus Siculus], Diodorus Siculus: The Library of History. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.
* Euripides. Fragments: Oedipus-Chrysippus. Other Fragments. Edited and translated by Christopher Collard, Martin Cropp. Loeb Classical Library No. 506. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2009.
* Euripides, Heracles, translated by E. P. Coleridge in The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. Volume 1. New York. Random House. 1938. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Fowler, R. L. (2000), Early Greek Mythography: Volume 1: Text and Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 9780198147404
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* Ovid, Metamorphoses, Brookes More. Boston. Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Papadopoulou, Thalia, Heracles and Euripidean Tragedy, Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 9781139446679
* Pausanias, Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Pepin, Ronald E., The Vatican Mythographers, Fordham University Press, 2008. ISBN 9780823228928
* Pindar, Odes, Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Pipili, Maria, Laconian Iconography of the Sixth Century B.C., Oxford University, 1987.
* Plato, Republic Books 6–10, Translated by Paul Shorey, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Plutarch. Lives, Volume I: Theseus and Romulus. Lycurgus and Numa. Solon and Publicola. Translated by Bernadotte Perrin. Loeb Classical Library No. 46. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1914. ISBN 9780674990524 Theseus at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Propertius Elegies Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 18. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1990. Online version at Harvard University Press.
* Quintus Smyrnaeus, Quintus Smyrnaeus: The Fall of Troy, Translator: A.S. Way; Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1913. Internet Archive
* Room, Adrian, Who's Who in Classical Mythology, Gramercy Books, 2003. ISBN 0517222566
* Schefold, Karl (1966), Myth and Legend in Early Greek Art, London, Thames and Hudson.
* Schefold, Karl (1992), Gods and Heroes in Late Archaic Greek Art, assisted by Luca Giuliani, Cambridge University Press, 1992. ISBN 9780521327183
* Seneca, Tragedies, Volume I: Hercules. Trojan Women. Phoenician Women. Medea. Phaedra. Edited and translated by John G. Fitch. Loeb Classical Library No. 62. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2002. ISBN 9780674996021 Online version at Harvard University Press.
* Seneca, Tragedies, Volume II: Oedipus. Agamemnon. Thyestes. Hercules on Oeta. Octavia. Edited and translated by John G. Fitch. Loeb Classical Library No. 78. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2004. ISBN 9780674996106 Online version at Harvard University Press.
* Smallwood, Valerie, "M. Herakles and Kerberos (Labour XI)" in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC) V.1 Artemis Verlag, Zürich and Munich, 1990. ISBN 3760887511 pp. 85–100.
* Sophocles, Women of Trachis, Translated by Robert Torrance. Houghton Mifflin. 1966. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Statius, Statius with an English Translation by J. H. Mozley, Volume I, Silvae, Thebaid, Books I–IV, Loeb Classical Library No. 206, London: William Heinemann, Ltd., New York: G. P. Putnamm's Sons, 1928. ISBN 9780674992269 Internet Archive
* Statius, Statius with an English Translation by J. H. Mozley, Volume II, Thebaid, Books V–XII, Achilleid, Loeb Classical Library No. 207, London: William Heinemann, Ltd., New York: G. P. Putnamm's Sons, 1928. ISBN 9780674992283 Internet Archive
* Stern, Jacob, Palaephatus Πεπὶ Ὰπίστων, On Unbelievable Tales, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 1996. ISBN 9780865163201
* Trypanis, C. A., Gelzer, Thomas; Whitman, Cedric, CALLIMACHUS, MUSAEUS, Aetia, Iambi, Hecale and Other Fragments. Hero and Leander, Harvard University Press, 1975. ISBN 9780674994638
* Tzetzes, Chiliades, editor Gottlieb Kiessling, F.C.G. Vogel, 1826. (English translation, Books II–IV, by Gary Berkowitz. Internet Archive).
* Virgil, Aeneid, Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Virgil, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics of Vergil. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* West, David, Horace, Odes 3, Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 9780198721659
* West, M. L. (2003), Greek Epic Fragments: From the Seventh to the Fifth Centuries BC. Edited and translated by Martin L. West. Loeb Classical Library No. 497. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2003. Online version at Harvard University Press.
* Whitbread, Leslie George, Fulgentius the Mythographer. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1971.
* Woodford, Susan, Spier, Jeffrey, "Kerberos", in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC) VI.1 Artemis Verlag, Zürich and Munich, 1992. ISBN 3760887511 pp. 24–32.
* Xenophon, Anabasis in Xenophon in Seven Volumes, 3. Carleton L. Brownson. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts; William Heinemann, Ltd., London. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Category:Greek Mythology
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