cerberus

Cerberus is a figure from Greek mythology best known as the multi-headed watchdog of the Underworld. He is most commonly depicted as a large hound with three heads, though some traditions describe more heads or different features such as a serpentine tail and snakes in his mane. Cerberus’s appearance and exact nature vary by source, but he is consistently presented as a formidable gatekeeper at the entrance to Hades.

Most accounts make Cerberus the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, making him a sibling to several other famous monsters. In myth, his primary role is to guard the gates of the Underworld, preventing the dead from leaving and visitors from entering without permission. He is sometimes portrayed as aloof or hostile to intruders, though some heroes interact with him through cunning or ritual.

Several well-known myths center on Cerberus. Heracles (Hercules) Captured Cerberus as one of his twelve labors, bringing the beast to the surface before returning it to the underworld. In other tales, Orpheus pacifies Cerberus with music to pass into the Underworld in his quest to retrieve Eurydice. Cerberus appears in later literature as well, such as Dante’s Inferno, where he guards the third circle of Hell.

In modern times, Cerberus remains a symbol of boundary-guarding and the peril associated with crossing into the realm of the dead. The name is used in various cultural contexts, including fiction and media, to denote a formidable guardian figure.