Cerberus

**Cerberus** (pron. [ˈsɝbəɹəs], Greek: Κέρβερος *Kérberos* [ˈkerberos]) is a monstrous three-headed dog that guards the gate to the underworld of Hades. While Philip Engel was bring trained in evil by Lucifer, during the boy's first trip to the afterlife, the Devil had been taking care of Cerberus for Hades. Philip, who had become a devil by then, bonded with the dog.

## History

### *The Devil's Apprentice*

During Philip Engel's first trip to the afterlife, Lucifer had been taking care of Cerberus for the god Hades. Cerberus was usually kept chained.

During his time as Lucifer's apprentice in evil, in which he had become a devil, Philip pulled many cruel pranks on Lucifax, the Devil's cat, one of them being letting the hellhound Cerberus off its chain and locking the cat inside the library of Lucifer's castle with the hound. Cerberus chased Lucifax around for half an hour until the butler finally heard the cat's screeches and let him out. During the chase, Cerberus ate Lucifax's right ear.

## Anatomy

Cerberus is a three-headed dog. It has black fur.

## Background

### Etymology

The etymology of Κέρβερος *Kérberos*, the Greek name of the creature, is unknown. It has been said by linguist Daniel Ogden that attepts to establish an Indo-European etymology are "not yet successful". It has been proposed 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". However, another linguist named Bruce Lincoln (1991), among others, critiques this etymology. 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". Another etymology suggested by Adrian Room derives Cerberus from "Ker berethrou", meaning "evil of the pit".

## References

1. ↑ Kenneth B. Andersen. *The Wrongful Death*. Høst & Søn, October 19, 2018 (English print-on-demand paperback) (Original Danish version published April 30, 2009 by Høst & Søn)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Kenneth B. Andersen. *The Devil's Apprentice*. Høst & Søn, October 19, 2018 (English print-on-demand paperback). Høst & Søn, October 11 2018 (English e-book). (Original Danish version published September 30, 2005 by Høst & Søn)

## Other literature

1. ↑ Ogden, Daniel (2013a), Drakōn: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds, Oxford University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0-19-955732-5.
2. ↑ Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q. (2006). "Chapter 25.10: Death and the Otherworld". Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World. Oxford, GBR: Oxford University Press. p. 439. ISBN 978-0-19-928791-8. OCLC 139999117.
3. ↑ Lincoln, Bruce (1991). Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology and Practice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-48199-9.
4. ↑ 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".
5. ↑ Room, Adrian, Who's Who in Classical Mythology, Gramercy Books, 2003. ISBN 0-517-22256-6.