What does cerberus mean. The three-headed monster Cerberus, the infernal protector of the underworld

Cerberus is a monster ancient Greek myths, the second son from the union of Typhon with Echidna. This is a dog with three heads and poisonous saliva. He was the guardian of the gates of Hades, did not allow the souls to leave the realm of the dead.

Cerberus was conceived as a chimeroid creature: a three-headed dog with a serpentine tail, as creepy as his mother Echidna. The number of its heads can be up to a hundred - depending on which author describes the monster. Pindar and Horace write about a hundred heads, and Hesiod about fifty. Classical Hellenic mythology stops at two or three.

Some legends portray him as cynocephalic athlete, that is, a man with a dog's head. In one hand he held a bull's head, and in the other a goat's head. The first head exuded poisonous breath, and the second one killed with a look. On vases, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna were often depicted as two-headed. Cerberus was distinguished by its gigantic size and monstrous strength. Sometimes his middle head was depicted as a lion's, and snakes covered his stomach, back and paws.

In the oldest texts, it is described that the tail of the creature welcomes the newly arrived dead, and those who try to escape, he tears to pieces. Later, Cerberus acquired the habit of tasting souls, and so that the deceased would not be swallowed by a dog, a honey gingerbread was lowered into the coffin along with the body. To help Aeneas descend into the world of the dead, the soothsayer Sibylla fed the guard a cake soaked in wine and hypnotic herbs.

The brother of Cerberus was a dog with two tails and two heads - Orf, the guard of the red cows of Geryon. his sister- Lernaean Hydra, a snake with many heads. Orff and Hydra were destroyed by Hercules. The second sister is a three-headed Chimera with goat, lion and snake heads. The Chimera was killed by Bellerophon. Of all the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, only Cerberus escaped death at the hands of heroes - Hercules did not kill him, and Orpheus only enchanted him with captivating melodies.

The image of the guard dog in different cultures

Cerberus has a very ancient origin - Indo-European and Egyptian. "Cerberus" can also be read as "Kerberus" or "Kerberos" - and this is one of the hounds of Yama, the Brahmin god of death. The Scandinavian guard dog Garm is also related to him. Sometimes Cerberus is credited with two pairs of eyes, like the dogs of the same Pit. Brahmanism and Buddhism describe hell inhabited by dogs that after death, the souls of sinners begin to torment. Cerberus has similar functions.

The monster inherited Egyptian roots from the guardian of the Egyptian gates to the kingdom of the dead - Amta, and from the devourer of sinners at the court of Osiris. This guard has a lion and dog body combined with a crocodile head and hippo rump. For the first time, the Greek guardian Hades was mentioned by Hesiod, but Homer was already aware of him.

Over time, the name of the monster became a household name, and so they began to call unnecessarily harsh and incorruptible guards. In addition, Cerberus left a trace in contemporary culture, but more on that below.

Cerberus and heroes

Before going down to Hades, Hercules was initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries, after which Kore (aka Persephone, wife of Hades) began to consider him a brother. Hermes and Athena helped Hercules defeat Cerberus, after which the hero put the dog on his shoulders and carried him into the world of people. He was so unaccustomed to sunlight that he threw up. The foam that dripped from the monstrous dog's mouth became the poisonous aconite herb. According to legend, aconite is not tolerated by werewolves.

After the victory, Hercules received a wreath of silver poplar leaves. Eurystheus was horrified at the sight of Cerberus and hid under the throne. Hercules was satisfied with this and let go hell hound back to hell. In addition to Hercules, only the son of Apollo, the legendary singer Orpheus, could cope with him. He was able to pacify Cerberus with his songs.

Cape Tenar, located on the Peloponnese peninsula, boasts a cave in which, as the Greeks believed, Hercules found the entrance to the kingdom of Hades and brought Cerberus out of there. According to other legends, it happened near Koroneya (Boeotia), or Trezen Temple of Artemis, or Trezen Temple of Chthonia. Acherusian peninsula near Heraclea also claims to be the entrance to Hades. The main sign of such a place is dense thickets of aconite.

Cerberus and Christianity

The most famous Christian work with the presence of Cerberus is Divine Comedy Dante. For Dante, he became not just a guardian of the gates to the world of the dead, he turned into a tormenting demon. It is located on the Third Circle, the habitat of gluttons and gluttons. Their punishment is to forever rot and decompose under the rays of the scorching sun and constant rain.

It can be said that the inhabitants of the Third Circle are quite harmless - they are quite busy with their torments. It was the inhabitant of the Third Circle, Chacko, that Dante sympathized with. Chacko, in gratitude, predicted Dante's future.

In some adaptations of The Divine Comedy, such as Dante's Inferno: Inferno, Cerberus appears as a three-headed monster with teeth instead of eyes, devouring sinners. The third circle is located in the body of the monster. There, the devoured await eternal torment and torment.

Cerberus and the modern world

Modern games that exploit the mythology of the ancient Greeks have significantly influenced Cerberus to become one of the ordinary monsters. With rare exceptions, where he appears as one of the bosses. Cerberus remains one of the most recognizable monsters.

Cerbera manghas

Cerberus left a mark in botany - flowering plants inhabiting Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania were named by Carl Linnaeus Cerbera. Their hallmark is a high level of toxins. In fact, these plants are poisonous.

Some artists tried to create a 3D model of the creature's skeleton. The results obtained are far from perfect, but this also indicates that the story of the three-headed guardian of the gate is not over. From Greek legends, he migrated to medieval bestiaries, and from bestiaries to the Internet, books, games and album covers of metal bands.

Cerberus is as popular as the Sphinx, satyrs, centaurs and other characters of legends. But, if these creatures can act as both evil and benevolent characters, he retains his main function: to protect the gate. And, like thousands of years ago, this is often the gate to the Underworld.

IN ancient Greek mythology one of the most terrible monsters is considered a three-headed dog named Cerberus (in Greek Kerberus), which guards the entrance to Hell and serves Hades (the god of the Kingdom of the Dead). The spirits of the dead are allowed to enter the foggy and gloomy underworld, but no one is allowed to leave from there. In ancient times, dogs, like wild animals, roamed the outskirts of cities, which is probably why such an image appeared in mythology. But the image of Cerberus is also terrible in that he has snakes on his back and head, and a dragon's tail. This strange mixture of several creatures in one is a nightmarish sight.

"Cerberus" comes from the Greek "Kerberos" which means "spotted". Cerberus was a monstrous three-headed dog or devil with a serpent's tail, snakes for a mane, and the claws of a lion. According to some sources, his three heads represent the past, present and future. Other sources suggest that the heads are symbols of childhood, youth and old age. The most deadly was the gaze of Cerberus. Anyone he looked at was instantly turned to stone. Cerberus had razor-sharp teeth and a venomous bite. Where saliva dripped from the three mouths onto the ground, poisonous plants known as wolfsbane grew.

Charon's Boat, José Benlure y Gil, 1919

The father of Cerberus was Typhon, in Greek mythology a powerful and deadly monster similar to a god. He had a hundred dragon heads, a hundred wings, fiery luminous eyes. The Olympian gods were afraid of him. Wherever Typhon appeared, fear and disaster spread. His mission was to destroy the world and create obstacles for Zeus on the way to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Cerberus' mother was Echidna, half woman, half snake. She is known in Greek mythology as the mother of all monsters. She had black eyes, a head and half a torso. beautiful woman, and the lower part was the snake's body. In the cave where she lived, she lured men with her body and ate them alive.

The main task of Cerberus was to guard the Greek underworld and faithfully serve the god Hades. Cerberus on the banks of the River Styx, which forms the border between the Earth and the Underworld, guarded the gates of hell and guarded the souls of the dead from escaping back. Cerberus wagged its tail affectionately at all the incoming souls of the dead, but brutally tore to pieces anyone who tried to pass back through the gate and return to earth to the living.

Legend of Orpheus and Eurydice

Cerberus appears as the "watchdog of hell" in many myths.

One of the myths is when Orpheus, the greatest musician of Greek mythology, makes his way into the underworld, lulling the aggressive Cerberus with the sounds of the lyre. The Thracian singer Orpheus, revered in Greece, was happily married to the nymph Eurydice. But, one day, she was bitten by a snake, and Eurydice died. Orpheus was so struck by the grief of loss that he stopped singing and playing.He decided to risk his life and went on a desperate journey to the underworld to save Eurydice. With his playing on the lyre (an instrument similar to a harp), Orpheus charmed the carrier Charon.

Charon transported only the souls of the dead across the River Styx, but agreed to take Orpheus, although he was alive. At the entrance, Orpheus encountered the three-headed monster Cerberus, who, at the sound of the lyre, also dutifully lay down, and Orpheus was able to pass into the underworld.

Orpheus saves Eurydice, painting Jean Baptiste Camille

Hades and his wife Persephone allowed Eurydice to go back with Orpheus to the upper world on one condition: Eurydice would have to follow Orpheus, but he would be forbidden to look back at her. Before they reached the surface, Orpheus was so overcome with passion that he turned to look at Eurydice. The singer immediately turned into a ghost and forever remained in the underworld.

The origin of mythological creatures is inextricably linked with the religions of ancient peoples. According to the treatises of the great ancient Greek philosophers, Cerberus is the name of a watchdog who is a faithful servant of Hades.

Cerberus is a character from Greek mythology.

Characteristics

The main feature of the hellish dog is its appearance and incredible loyalty to the owner Hades.

The three-headed creature instills fear in the hearts of people, but also an involuntary respect for his devotion.

Even today, his name is a household name, denoting a proud and impregnable guardian.

Name

There are several sources explaining what Cerberus is. The dictionary of the ancient Greek language translates this word as a spotted monster. Translated from Latin, it means "devourer of the souls of the dead."

Another interpretation brings Cerberus closer to Garm's guard dog, which guards Helheim - world of the dead. In this case, both words are raised to the Proto-Indo-European root "ger-", which translates as "roar".

For the ancient Greeks, Cerberus always meant danger. This has given rise to many superstitions regarding ordinary dogs.

Origin

The Hellhound is a monstrous offspring of the hundred-headed dragon Typhon and Echidna, a monster that combines the features of a woman and a snake. Like all their descendants, he was born to bring pain and suffering to ordinary people.

But the gods had mercy and put this monster to guard the passage to Tartars, so that no one alive would enter there, and no one dead would come out.

In addition to other brothers and sisters, he has a brother, Orff, with whom he is often confused. This is also a dog, but two-headed, which served the giant Gerion and guarded his red bulls.

The rest of his siblings include:

• Nemean lion;
• Efon.

Appearance

The characteristic idea of ​​Cerberus changed over the years, until his stable image appeared.

According to him, appearance dogs have the following characteristics:

1. Growth reaches 3 m.
2. Its three heads are equipped with poisonous, sharp fangs.
3. Where his saliva dripped onto the ground, plants grew - wolf's poison.
4. His tail is replaced by a monstrous snake.
5. The same snakes hang all over his body instead of wool.
6. All three heads have a killer look.

In some sources, its appearance changes. So, instead of 3 heads, there can be 1, 50 or even 100. Sometimes some of them are not canine, but belong to lions, snakes, or even a person.

There is also a description of him in the form of a chimera: the body is human, and the head is a dog. In one hand he held the severed head of a bull, and in the other a goat.

However, the most common description of his physical appearance is that of a three-headed dog.

Some sources suggest that the 3 heads serve as symbols of the past, present and future. Others believe that these are symbols of childhood, youth and old age.

Purpose

Cerberus is a watchdog in Greek mythology. He guarded the gates to the kingdom of Hades, not releasing the souls of dead people from there. Settled on the banks of the river Styx, where the border between Earth and Hell passed, he tirelessly fulfilled his duty.

According to the philosopher Hesiod, he greeted the newcomers with joyful barking and wagging his tail, but woe was to those who dared to return.

However, over time, people began to associate it only with malice. They believed that the torment of the soul in the Underworld begins with the bite of Cerberus.

Cerberus sits on the banks of the River Styx

Cerberus legends

The myths of ancient Greece, where Cerberus is mentioned, are quite common. However, among them, 3 of the most common can be distinguished.

1. The twelfth labor of Hercules.
2. Saving Eurydice.
3. Sibyl and Aeneas.

12th Labor of Hercules

The hellish dog is one of the main characters in the last feat of Hercules. According to legend, King Eurystheus demanded that a three-headed monster be delivered to his palace, which guards the border between the worlds of the living and the dead.

The lord of the underworld Hades allowed Hercules to bring the dog to the surface, but on one condition: he had to defeat Cerberus with his bare hands.

Thanks to his strength and the skin of the Nemean lion, which covered him from the bites of a poisonous tail, Hercules managed to defeat the monster. Having tied him tightly, he carried the dog to the king. Eurystheus did not expect that the hero would cope with this assignment and, seeing Cerberus on the threshold of his house, began to beg Hercules to return him back.

Saving Eurydice

Another myth that features a three-headed guard is the love story of Orpheus and Eurydice.

The Thracian singer, who had no equal, was happily married to the nymph Eurydice. But Hera envied their love and sent a snake. Bitten by a poisonous creature, the nymph soon died, and heartbroken Orpheus no longer saw the point in life.

Desperate, he decided on a crazy act - he would go down to Tartars in order to return his beloved from the captivity of Hades.

With his playing on the lyre, he charmed the carrier of the souls of the dead Charon, who on his boat delivered him directly to the entrance to the world of the dead.

The three-headed watchman also did not remain indifferent to the skill of Orpheus. As soon as the melody sounded, he obediently lay down on the ground and let the man into the underworld.

Hades and his wife Persephone allowed Orpheus to rescue his wife, but on one condition: he must not look back until he is on the lands of the living.

Orpheus could not resist and looked back, and at the same moment he turned into a ghost, forever chained to Tartarus.

Sibyl and Aeneas

During his journey, the great hero Aeneas, on the advice of the Cumaean Sibyl, descends to Tartarus to find out about his fate. A soothsayer helps him pass Cerberus. She feeds the watchman a honey gingerbread soaked in a decoction of sleepy grass.

Like many creatures in mythology, Cerberus is not indifferent to sweet offerings, so this is the easiest way to get past him.

Mention in other cultures

In the mythology of other countries, there are creatures similar to Cerberus. Their appearance may differ, but the main purpose is preserved.

The analogues of the Greek hellish dog include such creatures:

1. Garm is a chthonic monster in . Looks like a four-eyed dog. Guards the entrance to Helheim, the world of the dead.
2. Amt - in Egyptian mythology an evil spirit that devours the souls of the dead. It usually looks like a chimera: the head of a crocodile and the body of a dog.
3. Barghest - in the mythology of the northern counties of England, evil spirit in the form of a huge black dog, which serves as a harbinger of death. He guards the soul of a person who will soon die, so that she does not escape a fair trial.
4. Anubis is the jackal-headed god of embalming and mummification in Egyptian mythology. He is the guide of souls to the realm of the dead, their judge and guardian.
5. Galu - in Sumerian mythology guardian demons in the form of two-headed dogs that catch the souls of the dead.
6. Inugami - or protector in the form of a dog, which is used by the magicians of western Japan to cheat death. They collect the souls of dead people and provide them to Death instead of the soul of their master.
7. Grim - in the folklore of peoples Western Europe is Has the appearance of a large black dog. Similar to Barghest.
8. Dip is the Catalan version of Cerberus.
9. Ku Shih - in Scottish folklore, a huge dog that is used to search for and protect the souls of the dead.
10. Kun Annun is the Welsh version of Cerberus.

Anubis - god of mummification

Conclusion

Cerberus is the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. He looks like a three-headed dog with a snake instead of a tail, his fangs exude poison, and his eyes turn to stone. Its purpose is to guard the entrance to Tartarus and prevent the living from entering the world of the dead, and the souls from returning back to the world of the living. He recognizes Hades as the only master over himself, whom he serves faithfully.

In Greek and ancient Roman myths, such a character as Cerberus is often found. This is a three-headed dog with a wriggling tail and a snake body. The encyclopedic dictionary of allegorical expressions and words indicates that this name means a vigilant and ferocious guardian. Why was Cerberus so vigilantly guarded? What is this character? 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 mythology Ancient Greece, but in the cosmogony of this ancient civilization. Which is what we will do in this article.

Origin of uranides

You can learn about genesis from the ancient Greek poet Hesiod. By the way, in his work "Theogony" for the first time the dog Cerberus is mentioned. The sky god Uranus and the mistress of the Earth 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 in Hades. There, these creatures took on the appearance of monsters. Cerberus' mother, Echidna, was a beautiful-faced maiden with the body of a snake. She lured travelers and killed them. And the father of Cerberus was Typhon, the 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 Phorky, either Styx and Perant, or Phanet. 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 at the same time her brother the two-headed dog Orff, the Nemean lion, the Chimera, the Colchis Dragon, Sphing and Efon. This last character of the 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 snake-like Uranida was a real mother-heroine. But all her children were monsters driven into the underworld. Therefore, Jesus Christ, who lived in the Hellenistic period and is well aware of the myths, says to the Pharisees: “You are the offspring of vipers,” thereby hinting that they are the offspring of evil. However, almost the entire family was destroyed by the hero Hercules. He killed the two-headed dog Orff in order to steal the herds of Gerion, which he guarded. He beheaded the Hydra, and also killed the Chimera, which had three heads: snakes, goats and lionesses. According to one version, Hercules killed Echidna herself.

The Story of a Hero and Cerberus

Hesiod is not the only author who describes Cerberus. Other poets also represent him as a monster, but disagree about more accurate signs. According to some sources, the dog had three heads, but of different ages. He had a long lizard tail, and snake heads grew along his back. Tongues dripped poisonous saliva. According to other sources, Cerberus is a hundred-headed monster. They take turns sleeping. One of the heads is always awake. But other myths depict this monster as a man with the face of a ferocious dog. What was Cerberus guarding? Gate to the realm 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 guard of the underworld to him. What the hero did. How? In myths, there is also no consensus on this matter. According to one version, simply using their physical strength. According to another, the gods Athena and Hermes helped him in this. According to the third - the priestess gave him a lozenge with sleeping pills. But it was after this that he was released.

The modern meaning of the word "Cerberus"

The image of the hellish dog was so strong that it captured the imagination of people from other civilizations. In the Middle Ages, the myth of Cerberus did not disappear, as did the belief in Olympic gods. This monster with three dog heads and a long tail guards the entrance to Hell in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. Humanity has not forgotten about the poisonous saliva of Cerberus. Carl Linnaeus, having discovered the genus unusually toxic in the tropics, named it after the mythical character Cerbera. For astronomers, Cerberus is a satellite. In the modern world, the image of a vigilant guardian is also actively exaggerated. So, in the sensational epic of J. Rowling "Harry Potter" in a terrible dog named Fluff, none other than Cerberus is guessed. And finally, it must be said that this name itself has become allegorical. If someone wants to be called an evil chain dog, faithfully serving his master, then they say about him "Cerberus".

It is not uncommon for mythological creatures to be so highly developed and popular that many perceive them as quite real beings. Such is Cerberus, one of the most fearsome monsters that man's fantasy has ever spawned.

He is distinguished by a special bloodthirstiness, as well as aggressiveness in the process of completing the task assigned to him by the gods. Its other name is Kerberos, and in Latin reserved for him term eater. He is presented as one of the many offspring of the union of Echidna and Typhon, perhaps the most terrifying of his brethren.

If you compare it with the Lernian Hydra or the Nemean Lion, it is not difficult to see that Cerberus is superior in strength to both of them combined. He is faithful to Hades until his death, and also performs the most important task - he kills everyone who tries to penetrate into afterworld.

What did Cerberus look like?

This creature was a terrifying wolfhound, which was distinguished by the presence of three heads at once with mouths studded with fangs. Some sources even indicate that this dog had five heads, but the story with three-headed monster.

Cerberus' neck is littered with snakes that are constantly writhing and hissing. It is distinguished by a very long tail, the tip of which has a snake's head instead of a pom-pom. The wool of this mythical creature also filled with snakes that protect him, leaving almost no vulnerable spot on his body.

Huge paws are capable of tearing almost any opponent. Cerberus, as the legends that have come down to us depict him, is distinguished by a very evil and even scary look, capable of terrify anyone and cause primal fear.

The mouths of Cerberus are constantly ready to bite, and foam flows down the fangs, which is especially poisonous. According to one of the legends, during the stay of Cerberus on the surface of the planet, the poison covered a small piece of land on which the herb aconite began to grow, which was subsequently used by Medea to create her poison.

Other sources indicate that Cerberus was able to turn into a man who had only one dog's head on his shoulders. His hand in this image was occupied by a severed bull's head, the stench of which made it possible to defeat enemies, crept very close. In the other hand, the creature held the head of a goat, the look of the dead eyes of which killed enemies on the spot.

Not infrequently, Cerberus is depicted as an ordinary dog, similar to a modern sheepdog. She still guards the passage to underworld, but instead of attacking, it simply meets travelers and warns them against their deadly journey. But if such a dog was kind to the living, then the dead could not receive mercy from him.

He fell with his formidable power on anyone who tries to leave the realm of the dead without the permission of his master. He easily turns into a terrifying monster that literally devours anyone who tries to break into the realm of the living, violating the established laws of the universe. After all, everyone in ancient times knew that leave the realm of the dead Impossible if already in it.

Cerberus was given the task of ensuring that the balance between the kingdom of Hades and Zeus was maintained at a fragile parity. Such a requirement was established by the lord of the dead himself, when he and his brothers shared the kingdoms inherited after the overthrown by them of the Titans.

The monster remained undefeated, as it possessed supernatural strength and ferocity. He is also given a special ability create fear in the hearts those who bravely challenge him. However, some heroes made attempts to overthrow the tyranny of Cerberus, and some of them managed to fight the monster quite effectively.

The first among the host of heroes stood out Hercules, who in Italy was called Hercules. He managed to defeat this terrible opponent due to the fact that he was the son of a god. Bringing Cerberus to one of the Greek kings was a task that was included in the canonical number of his great feats.

After the king saw that Hercules was really capable of such a feat, the monster was brought back, and for his exploits the hero was awarded a wreath of silver poplar. It was at this moment that aconite appeared on earth, born from the foam of a monster.

Orpheus was also able to defeat Cerberus, who managed to play such a magnificent melody in front of him that she lulled the vigilance of the animal. Psyche got the monster drunk special decoction, thanks to which he falls asleep. Despite these isolated cases, Cerberus always remained the most terrible monster in the memory of the ancient Greeks, so meeting him meant instant and terrible death.