Cerberus

## Relevant Pages

“

> It has three heads. Its... Its teeth can crush your bones with a single bite. And those eyes... they burn right through your soul as it finishes you off. Nothing can defeat this monster.
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>
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”

—Megara on Once Upon a Time's Cerberus

**Cerberus** is a character on *Greek Mythology*. It débuts, with its appearance in around seven hundred BCE and the ninth century.

Cerberus is based on the character of the same name from Greek Mythology, and the Disney film *Hercules*.

## History

### Greek Mythology

Descriptions of Cerberus vary, including the number of his heads. Cerberus was usually three-headed, though not always. Cerberus had a multi-headed heritage. His father was the multi snake-headed Typhon, and Cerberus was the brother of three other multi-headed monsters, the multi-snake-headed Lernaean Hydra; Orthrus, the two-headed dog who guarded the Cattle of Geryon; and the Chimera, who had three heads, that of a lion, a goat, and a snake. 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 BC), Cerberus has fifty heads, while Pindar (c. 522 – c. 443 BC) gave him one hundred heads. However, later writers almost universally give Cerberus three heads. An exception is the Latin poet Horace's Cerberus which has a single dog head, and one hundred snake heads. 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".

Heracles, chain in left hand, his club laid aside, calms a two-headed Cerberus, which has a snake protruding from each of his heads, a mane down his necks and back, and a snake tail. Cerberus is emerging from a portico, which represents the palace of Hades in the underworld. Between them, a tree represents the sacred grove of Hades' wife Persephone. On the far left, Athena stands, left arm extended. Amphora (c. 525–510 BC) from Vulci (Louvre F204).
In art Cerberus is most commonly depicted with two dog heads (visible), never more than three, and occasionally only one. On one of the two earliest depictions (c. 590–580 BC), a Corinthian cup from Argos (see below), now lost, Cerberus is shown as a normal single-headed dog. The first appearance of a three-headed Cerberus occurs on a mid sixth century BC Laconian cup (see below).

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, for example the lost Corinthian cup shows 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 BC), who makes Cerberus a large poisonous snake. Plato refers to Cerberus' composite nature, and Euphorion of Chalcis (3rd century BC) describes Cerberus as having multiple snake tails, and presumably in connection to his serpentine nature, associates Cerberus with the creation of the poisonous aconite plant. Virgil has snakes writhe around Cerberus' neck, Ovid's Cerberus has a venomous mouth, necks "vile with snakes", and "hair inwoven with the threatening snake", while Seneca gives Cerberus a mane consisting of snakes, and a single snake tail.

Cerberus was given various other traits. According to Euripides, Cerberus not only had three heads but three bodies, and according to Virgil he had multiple backs. Cerberus ate raw flesh (according to Hesiod), had eyes which flashed fire (according to Euphorion), a three-tongued mouth (according to Horace), and acute hearing (according to Seneca).

### Once Upon a Time

Cerberus is a three-headed beast from the Underworld that Hercules has to defeat to finish his Twelfth Labor. Before Hercules can confront the hellhound in the Enchanted Forest, he runs into Megara, who is running away from it. He urges her to keep running, while he stays to fight Cerberus. During the battle, Hercules goes for one of Cerberus' heads, but he is unable to fend himself from the two other attacking heads. He is eventually killed by Cerberus, who goes on to chase down Megara and kill her as well. Both Hercules and Megara, left with unfinished business because of how they died, end up in the Underworld.

In the Underworld's underground prison, Megara remains trapped, unable to escape because Cerberus keeps a watchful eye on her. Another prisoner, Hook, convinces her to break out with him, but as soon as they begin making their way through the tunnels, Cerberus' roar warns them that they are being pursued. Before they are cornered, Hook allows Megara to flee on her own, telling her to find Emma once she gets out. Hook is left to fight off Cerberus, who slashes him several times on his neck, and he's saved only when Hades takes him away to his lair. Cerberus continues to stalk Megara, finding her in the woods, but Emma manages to teleport herself, Megara and Regina away before the hellhound reaches them. Mary Margaret enlists Hercules' help to kill Cerberus, in the hopes of finding Hook, as well as clear away Hercules' unfinished business. With Emma, Regina and Mary Margaret, Hercules enters the mines to look for the beast, eventually venturing deeper in by himself. Coming face-to-face with the glowing eyes of the three-headed dog, Hercules becomes terrified and runs back to his party. The group, hearing Cerberus quickly approaching, prepare to attack, only for Hades to call off his pet. From Hades, Mary Margaret learns of Hercules' greatest shame, that he died fighting Cerberus. Later, she asks for details about the battle, in order to figure out why he lost in the first place. When Hercules admits the two other heads of Cerberus were too much for him, Mary Margaret realizes he needs two other people to kill the creature. Cerberus, tracking Megara to an apartment, slams into the building seconds before she escapes. Joined by Hercules and Mary Margaret, Megara teams up with them, with each person taking out one of Cerberus' heads. After all heads are incapacitated, Cerberus dies, dissolving into black dust.

### Props Notes

#### Once Upon a Time

* Cerberus is pictured on a flag in Hades' lair

## Appearances

Once Upon a Time

* Cerberus appears on a flag in "Souls of the Departed", "Devil's Due", "Ruby Slippers", "Firebird" and "Last Rites".
* Cerberus is mentioned in the Underworld storybook in "The Brothers Jones".