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Greek

Cerberus

The Hound of Hades · Guardian of Hades' Gates · The Three-Headed Hound

01Identity

Cerberus in Greek tradition

Three heads guard the entrance to Hades, allowing the deceased to enter while blocking the living and preventing the dead from leaving. Cerberus is a single monstrous hound, commonly shown with three heads, a serpent or dragon tail, snakes rising from his back, and lion’s claws. Some accounts give him fifty or one hundred heads. He is also described as an eater of raw flesh, with dagger sharp teeth, a poisonous bite, and a bark like clashing bronze.

Cerberus is the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, the half serpent mother of several monsters. He belongs to the House of Hades and guards its entrance on the banks of the River Styx. Homer calls him the hound of Hades. In the myths of Herakles and Aeneas, he appears as the guardian that separates the world of the living from the realm of the dead.

Top questions

The quick answers

  • Who is Cerberus?

    Cerberus is a Greek being associated with guardianship of Hades' gates, containment of the dead, the boundary between the living and the dead, chthonic guardianship.
    Source

    Source

    • Greek Mythology – August 2018
    • Greek and Roman Necromancy

  • What is Cerberus associated with?

    guardianship of Hades' gates, containment of the dead, the boundary between the living and the dead, chthonic guardianship
    Source

    Source

    • Greek Mythology – August 2018

  • What family links are recorded for Cerberus?

    Father: Typhon, Mother: Echidna, 4 siblings.
02Family

Cerberus’s family, at a glance

Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.

TyphonEchidna
CerberusHydraNemean lionOrthruschimera
03The names

The names Cerberus answers to

Kerberos

Greek form of the name

SourceGreek and Roman Necromancy

Cerberus

Latin form of the name

SourceGreek Mythology – August 2018

Hound of Hades

Hades' underworld watchdog

SourceGreek Mythology – August 2018

Guardian of Hades' Gates

Watcher of the entrance to the underworld

SourceGreek Mythology – August 2018

04Who it is

Cerberus, and where the myths place it

Appears in

The myths across MythSource where Cerberus features, each on that figure’s page.

The film

The Underdrawing video on Cerberus embeds here once it publishes.