The ancient Greeks used the name "Cerberus" to frighten children, and today this is the name of a guard who strictly observes the law. Few people know that this name was worn by the guard at the gates of hell - a terrible-looking vicious dog that could not be bribed, but could be deceived. The main thing is that such creatures are also found in our world!

Cerberus - who is it?

Who is Cerberus in Greek mythology, many people know, he became one of the popular characters in Greek myths, thanks to Hercules, who defeated a terrible monster. The story of the origin of the dog was told to the world by the storytellers of Hellas. Modern scholars present several interpretations of the origin of the name of the guard of hell:

1. Cerberus was born to the monsters Tryphon and Echidna, a dog with three heads with poisonous saliva. Does not allow the dead to return to the world of the living, those who try to escape are devoured. When meeting new shadows that have arrived in the kingdom of Hades, he gently wags his tail.
2. The second version of the name - Kerber, corresponds to the Sanskrit name of one of the dogs of the god Yama. "Kerberos" is translated from Proto-Indo-European as "spotted".
3. The third version of the name is Garm, the guard dog of the house of the dead in the myths of the Scandinavians, linguists assure that in Proto-Indo-European both nicknames have a common word root.

Does Cerberus exist?

In studies of paranormal phenomena, scientists have repeatedly come across evidence of the existence of a creepy dog ​​that appeared from under the ground. His habitats:

1. Devil's meadow, in the forest near Pskov.
2. Mound on the banks of the Vaksh River in Tajikistan.
3. The swamps of Britain, in those places many legends about dogs with flames splashing in their mouths have been preserved.

The legends of the swamps of England and gave the idea to Conan Doyle about the Hound of the Baskervilles. As for Russian places, the locals say that both in the clearing and in the mound there are entrances to the underworld, which are guarded by creepy dogs. In Black Meadow, scientists installed equipment to record the appearance of a monster. But when a black Cerberus dog with sparks running down its back emerged from the ground, all the sensors immediately melted. The beast walked around the clearing, and then abruptly sucked into the grass. During this phenomenon, people could not move due to a strange numbness.

A version has been put forward that the movements of the dog resemble ball lightning, because they are also black. And thunderstorms also happen underground, there is a piezoelectric effect, it manifests itself when electrical discharges occur in deformed soil crystals. This explains why the modern Cerberus appeared from the ground in sparks and flames, and sometimes even with the effect of small explosions.

What does Cerberus look like in real life?

Several descriptions of what Cerberus looks like have survived. The most common option: about three heads with a snake's tail. There are other descriptions where:

• the body of a dog, at the withers - the heads of snakes, the tail of a huge snake.
• the torso of a man, and the top of a mad dog. In one hand he holds the head of a bull, which kills with breath, in the other - the head of a goat, which destroys with a look.

There are several versions of how many heads Cerberus has. In different legends, their number ranges from 50 to 100. On products and drawings of vases, images showed that Cerberus is a dog:

1. Huge in size, on the tail - the mouth of a dragon.
2. With two heads and a snake tail.
3. With one head, snakes - on the withers, neck and stomach.
4. About three heads, the middle of which is a lion's.

Cerberus - mythology

What was Cerberus guarding? The ancient Greeks were sure that he guarded the entrance to the domain of Hades, where the souls of the dead languished. Only one person managed to put the beast to sleep - the singer Orpheus, who wanted to bring his wife Eurydice out of the underworld. Other legends say that Cerberus bites all new arrivals, so the Hellenes endowed the deceased with honey gingerbread so that there would be something to treat the guardian of the gate. wrote that in hell the three-headed Cerberus torments sinful souls.

The infernal creation myth mentions that he had siblings:

1. Orff, a dog with two heads and tails. Guarded the cows of Geryon, Hercules killed him.
2. Lernaean Hydra. A monster with 100 snake heads. She was also slain by the son of Zeus.
3. . An infernal creature with three heads: a lion, a goat and a snake. Destroyed by the hero Bellerophon.

Cerberus and Hades

Hades is the ruler of the kingdom of the dead, the kingdom itself was called by the same name. The son of Kronos and Rhea ruled there along with his wife Persephone. God considered that the infernal Cerberus would be the best guardian. His three heads have become a symbol of the past, present and future time, which, like a dog, meets and absorbs everything in its path. The famous singer Homer said that the entrance guarded by this dog is located in the extreme west, beyond the Ocean River. There are very gloomy fields where the souls of the dead fly.

Cerberus and Hercules

One of the most high-profile feats of the son of Zeus is considered how Hercules defeated Cerberus. To pull the hellish dog to the ground, to the people, was an indication of King Eurystheus. Hades allowed to take the guard for a while, but set the condition that the hero defeat the enemy with his bare hands. Before going to the kingdom of the dead, the son of Zeus was initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries, he was able to defeat the beast with the help of Hermes and. Hercules took the monster to the king, in Mycenae, but he got scared and ordered the guard to be returned back to hell.

Sphinx and Cerberus

Ancient myths preserved the name of another unique guardian - the Sphinx, a relative of the hellish dog. If the lair of Cerberus was at the gates of hell, then the Sphinx lived on earth. There are 2 versions of his birth:

1. Born from Tryphon and Echidna. This creature with a female face and a lion's body did not let those into Thebes who could not solve its riddle. He brutally killed them.
2. Parents - Orff and Echidna. He lived on Mount Fikion, was called Fix. It was considered the personification of mystery and wisdom.

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, one needs to delve not only into the mythology of Ancient Greece, but into 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 the Olympian 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".

Cerberus Cerberus (more correctly Kerberus, Cerberus, KerberoV) - in Greek mythology, an underground dog guarding the entrance to the kingdom of Hades. Such a dog is already known to Homer, but with the name C. it is mentioned for the first time by Hesiod. When the shadows enter the underworld, Z. gently wags his tail, but he devours those who try to get out of there. Later, the idea arose that he also frightens all those entering the afterlife; even the ancients produced the name Kerberos from the words khxeV; (souls of the dead) and bibvscw (devour) or saw in this name a synonym for the word danger (Gezikhiy). According to the popular idea (hardly, however, very ancient), to propitiate the monsters entering the underworld, they offered him honey cakes. In vase paintings and other works of art, Z. was depicted as an angry sheepdog; in more ancient times, C. was usually depicted with two heads and a snake tail (like Gerion's dog Orfra, who was originally identical with C.), sometimes with one head; but with snakes on its back, neck, and belly; later, the concept of Ts. was established as a three-headed dog, and (in the Roman era) its middle head was sometimes depicted as a lion's. In the Hesiodian theogony, C. is considered the son of Typhaon and Echidna. Hercules, on the orders of King Eurystheus, had to deliver Ts. from the underworld to the earth, which he succeeds in doing; at the same time, poisonous aconite grew in those places where the padalapena fell from the monster's mouth. BUT.

Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron. - St. Petersburg: Brockhaus-Efron. 1890-1907 .

See what "Cerberus" is in other dictionaries:

Hercules and Cerberus. Italy, Via Latina, catacomb fresco, 4th century AD Cerberus, more precisely Kerberos (from other Greek Κέρβερος) in Greek mythology ... Wikipedia

- (lat.). Three-headed dog in other Rome. mythology, guarding the entrance to the kingdom of Hades; hence the generally vigilant watchman, watching every step. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. CERBERUS in Greek. myth. ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

From ancient Greek mythology. Cerberus is a three-headed dog sitting at the entrance to the kingdom of Hades, the underground abode of the dead. When one head sleeps, the others are awake. He lets everyone freely into Hades, but does not let anyone out. Allegorically: ferocious, ... ... Dictionary of winged words and expressions

Cm … Synonym dictionary

Or Cerberus (Cerberus, Κέρβερος). See hell. (Source: “A Concise Dictionary of Mythology and Antiquities”. M. Korsh. St. Petersburg, edition of A. S. Suvorin, 1894.) Cerberus (Kerberus) is a monstrous three-headed dog with a snake tail that guarded the entrance to the underground ... ... Encyclopedia of mythology

- (Kerberus) in Greek mythology, a monstrous three-headed dog with a snake tail, guarding the entrance to the underworld. In a figurative sense, a ferocious guard ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Cerberus, cerberus, male. (from the Greek. sob. them. Kerberos). 1. In ancient Greek mythology, an evil dog guarding the entrance to hell. 2. trans. An evil, ferocious guardian, restricting freedom, watching every step (book. Neod.). Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

Cerberus, a, husband. (book). Evil, ferocious overseer, guardian [original. in ancient Greek mythology: a three-headed dog guarding the doors of hell]. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

Cerberus- a, m., SERBER * cerbère m. lat. Cerberus gr. Kerberos. 1. In ancient Greek mythology, a three-headed dog guarding the entrance to the underworld. BAS 1. The Vixens were different there, the flying Dromedaries were different, the Dragons and Cerberuses, Who roared, on ... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

Cerberus- Ke/rber, a, m. 1) In Greek mythology: an evil dog, guardian of Hades. 2) trans. A ferocious overseer, a vigilant guardian. He is a real Cerberus! Etymology: Latin Cerberus (← Greek Kerberos). Encyclopedic commentary: Cerberus is a monster with three ... ... Popular dictionary of the Russian language

Books

• Cerberus, Kumin Vyacheslav. Ron Finist is an ordinary guy living on a peaceful planet. One day, Ron and his friends are kidnapped and, among thousands of the same unfortunate ones, they are taken to Cerberus - a planet that has become a testing ground for creating from ...

Ancient Greek myths surprise with the originality of the characters. However, with Cerberus, the inhabitants of Hellas did not become particularly wise, although they endowed the animal with frightening features. Who else will guard the approaches to the most terrible place on earth - the kingdom of the dead? Of course, a dog, albeit not quite an ordinary one.

Origin and image

Cerberus in ancient Greek mythology is perhaps the most terrible creature that can terrify even the most brave hero and warrior. In Latin, the name of the hellish dog is listed as "Cerberus", which means "souls of the dead" and "devourer". The ugly monster is the offspring of Typhon and Echidna.

The giant and the gigantic half-woman half-snake gave birth to two more children, a brother and sister Cerberus. No less monstrous dog Orf with two heads guarded the herd that belonged to the giant Geryon, and the Lernean Hydra, a snake-like creature with poisonous breath, guarded the underwater entrance to the kingdom of the dead.

Cerberus, of course, also got the fate of a watchman, but compared to his brother and sister, he enjoyed the most respect for his bad temper and excessive aggressiveness.

The appearance of the mythological character makes the creepy image complete. The back is crowned with three heads with evil eyes, a long snake tail flaunts on the back of the body, ominous snakes teem on the neck and stomach. However, according to other sources, the creature is represented with fifty or even a hundred heads. And in the Roman era, the middle head was a lion's head. Sometimes Cerberus even looks like a man with a dog's head.

The ancient Greeks depicted the mouth of Cerberus with sharp fangs. A poisonous mixture of white color flowed from the tongue of the dog. According to legend, when Hercules pulled the monster out of the dungeon, Cerberus vomited on the ground from the sunlight. As a result, the herb aconite grew, from which Medea later prepared deadly potions.

The dangerous dog's life's work was to serve God faithfully. The duty of Cerberus is to guard the exit from the world of the dead, so that not a single soul that has gone "to the next world" can return to people. And, as is known from the myths, attempts to escape were not uncommon. At the same time, the dog greets new guests (necessarily deceased) cordially, wagging its tail cutely. An aggressive creature is not so hospitable to living souls, therefore, in the legends, the heroes try to bribe it in every possible way. For example, who came for a dead lover, delighted the ears of Cerberus with the sounds of a lyre and eventually put the sinister dog to sleep.

Cerberus and Hercules

The three-headed dog is strong and fearsome. Attempts to defeat the guard of Hades were made more than once, but only a brave strong man managed to do this. The story of the pacification of the monster from the underworld was the 12th, final feat of the hero. The evil king Eurystheus, who wondered to destroy Hercules, asked the ancient Greek hero to bring the legendary dog ​​to the throne.

Hades just didn’t want to give up his faithful guard - he made concessions only after the hero hit his shoulder with an arrow. The ruler of the underworld allowed Cerberus to be taken away, but on one condition - if Hercules defeats him without weapons. A glorious warrior dressed in lion skins and attacked a fierce animal, trying to strangle it. Cerberus did not manage to fight off the intruder with a dragon's tail and fell at his feet.

At the sight of the monster, the cowardly king Eurystheus was horrified, and he freed Hercules from hard work. And by the way, he ordered the dog to be returned to its place in the underworld.

In literature and cinema

Cerberus often becomes the hero of literary works, and also appears on movie screens.

In ancient Greek and Roman literature, the character is found in, and. In The Divine Comedy, Cerberus is the guardian of the third circle of hell, where gluttons and gourmets suffer, who are destined to rot in the pouring rain and the ruthless rays of the sun.

Writers sometimes use the image of a three-headed dog in an allegorical sense. in the work “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”, already in the epigraph, he began to criticize the autocracy with the words: “The monster is oblo, mischievous, huge, staring and barking.” The expression is mixed from two fragments of Virgil's Aeneid, which speaks of the Cyclops Polyphemus and Cerberus. Later, the line turned into a catchphrase used to describe any negative event that has a public resonance.

Modern literature also uses the image of this infernal monster. In the novel "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", Cerberus, although scary, is tender. A huge dog with three heads is bred, who named him Fluffy. The dog guards the entrance to the dungeon where the philosopher's stone is kept. The hero is distinguished by one feature - he falls asleep at any sound of music. , and put the guard to sleep with the help of a flute, as in the myth of Orpheus.

An interesting appearance in the movie of a fierce dog happened in 2005. In the film "Cerberus" directed by John Terlesky, the heroes hunt for a sword kept in the lost tomb of the great Hun Attila. The weapon gives the owner invulnerability and power over the whole world. However, the magical relic is jealously guarded by a monstrous dog. The film starred Greg Evigan, Garrett Sato, Bogdan Uritescu and other actors.

• The naturalist and physician Carl Linnaeus, who lived in the 18th century, gave the name of the ancient Greek monster to an amazing plant that is usually found on the lands of Africa, Australia and India. The poisonous flowering tree contains a powerful toxin that can kill a person. With the light hand of a botanist, the plant began to be called Cerbera (Cerberus).

• On the eve of the World Cup, which is scheduled for 2018, there was a scandal. In the city park of Sochi, a sculpture of Cerberus, created by artists Vladimir and Victoria Kirilenko, was illegally installed. The monument was conceived as a symbol of the championship amulet: a mythical dog in bronze guards the ball. A sculpture two meters high and weighing a ton grew in the center of the city, but the mayor's office ordered this object to be dismantled.

The image of the nightmarish monster Cerberus is found in many Greek myths. His task is to guard the gates of Hell so that the souls of the dead cannot return to earth.

Origin of Nightmare Beast

In ancient Greek mythology, one of the most terrible monsters is considered to be a three-headed dog named Cerberus (in Greek Kerberos), 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, the head and half of the torso of a beautiful woman, and the lower part was the body of a snake. 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 Saving Eurydice, painting by 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 Last Labor of Hercules

Another myth about Cerberus is associated with half-man, half-god Hercules. In the last twelfth feat of Hercules, King Eurystheus demanded that Cerberus be brought to earth. Eurystheus was sure that Hercules would not be able to return from Cerberus alive.

Hercules fighting Cerberus, Hans Sebald Beham, 1545

Hercules went to the underworld, found Hades, and he told him that if Hercules could defeat Cerberus with his bare hands without weapons, then he would be allowed to leave the underworld with the beast. Hercules found Cerberus on the banks of Acheron and began to fight him with his bare hands. Hercules gathered all his strength to subdue the huge monster. Cerberus, squeezed by Hercules and almost lifeless, yielded to him and recognized his strength. Hercules delivered the monster to Eurystheus, and then Cerberus returned safely to Hades, where he continued to guard the gates to the underworld.

Analogies with the image of Cerberus

The image of Cerberus or his signs appeared in many works of ancient Russian literature, although the description of the mythological creature often differed in many cultures. So Cerberus in Dante's hell guards not the entire underworld, but the third circle of Hell, which was considered the circle of gluttony, and Cerberus personifies uncontrollable appetite. Cerberus also appears in many famous works of Roman literature. The best known are the Aeneid written by Virgil, the story of Orpheus in Plato's symposium, and the Iliad written by Homer. In Scandinavian mythology, by analogy with Cerberus, Hell was guarded by the four-eyed dog Garm. In Egypt, his incarnation was Anubis, a dog guarding the tombs and escorting souls to the afterlife. Some authors, such Greek poets as Hesiod and Horace, described Cerberus with fifty or a hundred heads, in the form of a lion, dog or wolf. Even in modern literature in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the sounds of the flute lull the beast to sleep in a similar way to the story of Orpheus and Eurydice.