In Greek and ancient Roman myths, a character such as Cerberus is often found. This is a three-headed dog with a snaking tail and body of a snake. In the encyclopedic dictionary of allegorical expressions and words it is indicated that this name means an alert and ferocious guard. What so vigilantly guarded Cerberus? What kind of character is this? Where did he come from in ancient mythology? Why did his name become a household name? In order to understand all this, you need to delve not only into the mythology of Ancient Greece, but into the cosmogony of this ancient civilization. What we will do in this article.
Origin of Uranides
You can learn about the genesis of the Olympic gods from the ancient Greek poet Hesiod. By the way, in his work "Theogony" the dog Cerberus is mentioned for the first time. Sky god Uranus and Earth's ruler Gaia gave birth to the first supernatural beings. They were immortal. The God of Time Kronos learned that his own son would interrupt his eternal existence, so he killed all his children. However, one of them, Zeus, managed to escape. He killed his father and began to gain power by overthrowing the uranids at Hades. There, these creatures acquired the appearance of monsters. Cerberus's mother, Echidna, was a beautiful virgin with the body of a snake. She lured travelers and put them to death. And the father of Cerberus was Typhon, brother of Echidna. Both parents, in turn, were the children of Tartarus (god of the underworld) and Gaia. So says Hesiod. According to other sources, Echidna was the daughter of Keto and Forky, either Styx and Perant, or Faneta. Everyone agrees that this giant half-woman half-snake combined charm and cruelty.
"Beautiful" family
Cerberus is not the only son of Echidna. She also gave her husband and brother at the same time a two-headed dog Orff, a Nemean lion, the Lernean Hydra, Chimera, Colchis Dragon, Sphing and Efon. This last character of myths of Ancient Greece was an eagle in the service of Zeus, it was he who pecked the liver of the titan Prometheus. As you can see, the beautiful snakelike uranida was a real mother-heroine. But all her children were monsters driven into hell. Therefore, Jesus Christ, who lived in the Hellenistic period and was well aware of myths, says to the Pharisees: “You are the offspring of echidna,” thus hinting that they are evil creatures. However, almost the whole family was destroyed by the hero Hercules. He killed the two-headed dog Orff to kidnap the flocks of Gerion, which he guarded. He beheaded the Hydra, and also destroyed the Chimera, which had three heads: snakes, goats and lionesses. According to one version, Hercules killed Echidna herself.
The story of the hero and Cerberus
Hesiod is not the only author who describes Cerberus. Other poets also represent him as a monster, but disagree about more precise signs. According to one source, the dog had three heads, but of different ages. He had a long tail of a lizard, and the heads of snakes grew on the back. Poisonous saliva dripped from tongues. According to other sources, Cerberus is a hundred-footed monster. They sleep in turn. One of the heads is always awake. But other myths portray this monster as a man with the face of a ferocious dog. What was Cerberus guarding? Gateway to the kingdom of the dead, Hades. Inside, the entrance was open to everyone, but no one was allowed to go back. King Eurystheus ordered Hercules to bring the guardian of the underworld to him. What the hero did. How? There is also no consensus in myths on this score. According to one version, just using your physical strength. According to another, the gods Athena and Hermes helped him in this. On the third - the priestess gave him a cake with sleeping pills. But it was after this feat that Hercules was released.
The modern meaning of the word "Cerberus"
The image of the hellish dog was so strong that it struck the imagination of people of other civilizations. In the Middle Ages, the myth of Cerberus did not disappear, like faith in the Olympic gods. This monster with three dog heads and a long tail guards the entrance to Hell in the "Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri. Humanity has not forgotten about the poisonous saliva of Cerberus. Carl Linney, having discovered a genus of unusually toxic flowering plants in the tropics, named him after the mythical character Cerbera. For astronomers, Cerberus is a satellite of the planet Pluto. In the modern world, the image of the vigilant guard is also actively exaggerated. So, in the sensational epic J. Rowling "Harry Potter" in a terrible dog nicknamed Fluff guessed none other than Cerberus. And finally, I must say that this name itself has become allegorical. If someone wants to be called an evil chain dog, faithfully serving his master, then they say “Cerberus” about him.