Ancient Greek myths surprise with the originality of their characters. However, with Cerberus, the inhabitants of Hellas did not try to be too clever, although they endowed the animal with terrifying 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 an ordinary one.
Origin and image
Cerberus in ancient times Greek mythology- perhaps the most terrible creature, capable of terrifying even the bravest hero and warrior. In Latin the name hellhound listed as "Kerberus", which translated means "souls of the dead" and "devourer". The ugly monster is the product of Typhon and Echidna.
The giant and the gigantic half-woman, half-snake gave birth to two more children, brother and sister Cerberus. An equally monstrous dog, Orff, with two heads, guarded the herd that belonged to the giant Geryon, and the Lernaean Hydra, a snake-like creature with poisonous breath, guarded the underwater entrance to the kingdom of the dead.
Cerberus, of course, also had the fate of a watchman, but compared to his brother and sister, he enjoyed the greatest respect for his bad character and excessive aggressiveness.
The appearance of a mythological character completes the creepy image. The back is crowned with three heads with evil eyes, a long snake tail flaunts on the back of the body, and ominous snakes swarm 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 that of a lion. 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 dripped from the dog's tongue white. 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.
Life's work dangerous dog became serving God faithfully. Cerberus' duty is to guard the exit from world of the dead so that not a single soul that has gone “to the next world” will be able to return back to people. And, as is known from myths, attempts to escape were not uncommon. At the same time, the dog greets new guests (necessarily deceased) cordially, wagging his tail cutely. An aggressive creature is not so hospitable to living souls, so in legends heroes try to bribe it in every possible way. For example, the one who came for his dead beloved delighted Cerberus’ ears with the sounds of the lyre and eventually put the ominous dog to sleep.
Cerberus and Hercules
The three-headed dog is strong and scary. Attempts to defeat the guard Hades were made more than once, but only a brave strongman succeeded. The story of pacifying a monster from the underworld became the hero’s 12th and final feat. The evil king Eurystheus, who wondered about destroying Hercules, asked the ancient Greek hero to bring him to the throne legendary dog.
Hades did not want to give up his faithful guard just like that - he made concessions only after the hero hit him in the shoulder with an arrow. The ruler of the underworld allowed Cerberus to be taken, but with one condition - if Hercules defeats him without weapons. The glorious warrior dressed himself in lion skins and attacked the fierce animal, trying to strangle it. Cerberus was never able to fight off the intruder with his dragon's tail and fell at his feet.
At the sight of the monster, the cowardly king Eurystheus was seized with horror, 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 a hero 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, destined to rot under the pouring rain and the merciless 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 loud, mischievous, huge, loud and barking.” The expression is mixed from two fragments of Virgil’s Aeneid, which talks about the Cyclops Polyphemus and Cerberus. Later the line became catchphrase, used to describe any negative event, having a public resonance.
Modern literature also uses the image of this hellish monster. In the novel “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,” Cerberus, although scary, evokes affection. A huge dog with three heads was raised, who named him Fluff. 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.
Fluff from the movie "Harry Potter" An interesting appearance of a fierce dog in a movie happened in 2005. In Cerberus, directed by John Terleski, the characters 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 stars Greg Evigan, Garrett Sato, Bogdan Uritescu and other actors.
- 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 in the lands of Africa, Australia and India. The poisonous flowering tree contains a powerful toxin that can kill humans. WITH light hand Botany began to call the plant Cerbera (Cerberus).
Plant "Cerberus" - On the eve of the World Cup, which is scheduled for 2018, a scandal occurred. A sculpture of Cerberus created by artists Vladimir and Victoria Kirilenko was illegally installed in a Sochi city park. The monument was conceived as a symbol of the championship's amulet: a mythical dog in bronze guards the ball. A statue two meters high and weighing a ton grew in the city center, but the mayor's office ordered the dismantling of this object.
In ancient Greek mythology, Cerberus is described as a legendary dog with three heads. A monstrous dog guards the gates to Hades, gloomy underworld dead souls, from which no one can leave without the permission of the gods. And the living will not penetrate into the world of the dead, because the gate is guarded by the three-headed monster Cerberus, hellish defender the underworld.
IN ancient world Dogs were usually considered wild animals, and until they became domesticated they wandered the streets and fed on the outskirts of cities. The mythical Cerberus included not only all the terrible qualities of dogs, but also represented a collection of terrible creatures.
The ancient Greeks depicted Cerberus as a monstrously strong three-headed dog with lion claws. Creepy monster They painted him as a “hell’s watchman” with a snake’s tail, and even a mane made from a snake’s ball.
The three heads of the guardian of the underworld are believed to symbolize the past, present and future, although other authors believe that they represent birth, youth and old age. Very powerful weapon Cerberus hides in a gaze so terrible that anyone who looked into his eyes immediately turned into cold stone!
Legends say that the teeth of the three-headed monster were the sharpest blades, and its bite was deadly poisonous, like the saliva itself. If a drop of poison fell on the ground, then a wolf plant would sprout in that place.
CEBERUS'S PARENTS.
The father of Cerberus was Typhon, influential and extremely dangerous monster ancient Greek mythology (besides God). A giant and a giant with bright red eyes and, as they said, the lord of the fiery forces was so powerful that even the gods of Olympus.
Wherever Typhon appeared, he brought disaster and violence. The goal of the evil monster was to destroy the world, and the desire to interfere with Zeus on his way to Heavenly Kingdom. The mother of the nightmarish three-headed monster was Echidna, a half-woman and half-serpent creature called "the mother of all monsters."Echidna's eyes were black, his head and body beautiful woman, but the lower half of the body was a snake. The mother of monsters lived in a cave, where she attracted people to be devoured due to her beauty.
CERBERUS IS THE GUARDIAN OF THE DOORS OF THE HELL.
Cerberus's main mission was to guard the Greek underworld and be a faithful servant of the god Hades. His favorite place was the banks of the River Styx, which bordered the border.
Cerberus guarded the gates of Hades, preventing the dead from escaping, and also guarded the entrance from the living, not allowing entry without the permission of his master. Chained to the gates of the Acheron, another river of the Underworld, Cerberus was loyal to the dead or newly arrived spirits, but devoured all who tried to return to the world of the living, trying to pass the gates of hell.
Cerberus is cited in various mythological stories as the "guardian of hell", and there are even a couple of Greek myths in which the hero defeats the monster. First, there is Orpheus, the famous musician of Greek mythology, who sneaked into the underworld and lulled a beast to sleep with his lyre (a type of harp). Usually a vigilant and aggressive guard, Cerberus, having listened to the wondrous sound, simply fell asleep.
The Thracian singer was revered in Greece and happily married the nymph Eurydice. However, she was bitten by a snake and died. Orpheus was so inconsolable by the loss that he boldly rushed on a dangerous journey to the Underworld, wanting to bring Eurydice into the world of the living by any means necessary.The hopeless and strange enterprise was crowned with success, since the music so captivated Charon (the ferryman helping souls of the dead cross the River Styx) that the boatman undertook to translate Orpheus, a living man. Having met Cerberus, Orpheus managed to force the three-headed monster to lie obediently on the ground, lulled by the music of his lyre, after which the man was able to easily cross the gates of Hades.
Hades and his wife Persephone agreed that Orpheus would take his beloved with the condition: when ascending to the world of the living, Eurydice would follow Orpheus, but he was strictly forbidden to look back and look at his wife.
Alas, having reached the surface, Orpheus apparently felt the delight of being reunited with his beloved, and turned to look at his beloved... she immediately became a ghost and was sent back to the kingdom of the dead, this time forever.
HERCULES DEFEATED CERBERUS.
The most famous story Cerberus has its hero Hercules, a half-god half-man. Eurytheus, king of Tirins, demanded that Hercules capture and bring Cerberus to the world of the living. But Euristeo was convinced that Hercules would fail in this impossible mission.
However, Hercules, having come to the Underworld, talked with Hades and asked: if I can defeat Cerberus without using any weapons, will you allow me to take the monster? When Hercules met Cerberus on the shores of Acheron, he began to fight the huge monster using only his bare hands.
Even being the most strong man in the world, Hercules needed all his might to conquer a strong monster. Soon the monster was exhausted from the fight with the demigod and finally surrendered to Hercules. Cerberus is one of the few creatures that survived his meeting with Hercules. Unlike other mythological characters who crossed the path of Hercules, Cerberus returned to his place of duty intact, continuing to guard the doors of the world of dead souls.
Cerberus appears in many books of ancient mythology, although it differs somewhat among different authors. For example, in the hell presented by Dante, it is not the entire underworld that is shown, but the third circle of hell - this is the circle of gluttony, and Cerberus serves to personify uncontrolled appetite.
Norse history also has an equivalent to Cerberus, where Hell is guarded by a four-eyed dog named Garm. In Egypt, his embodiment was Anubis, the dog-headed god, guardian of tombs, who accompanied souls on their way to the underworld. A number of authors report that Cerberus had fifty or even a hundred heads, and in other descriptions he appears as a lion with wings, a dog and a wolf.
Throughout our culture we see a character guarding the Kingdom of the Dead. Some will talk about superstitions, traditions and mythology. But there is something about this that is very confusing. The underworld and everything connected with it are described so well, as if it were a real world that one day someone actually managed to leave.
Cerberus (Κέρβερος), in Greek mythology a dog, guardian of Hades (Hes. Theog. 769 774), a monster with three heads, a body studded with snake heads, and a snake tail. K. the product of Echidna and Typhoid. Along with the Lernaean hydra and the Nemean lion, he... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology
Cerberus Dictionary of Russian synonyms. kerberus noun, number of synonyms: 2 fictional creature (334) ... Synonym dictionary
KERBERUS, see Cerberus... Modern encyclopedia
See Cerberus... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Kerber- KERBERUS, see Cerberus. ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
Leonid Lvovich Kerber (June 3 (17), 1903, St. Petersburg 1993, Moscow) a major specialist in the field of aviation equipment. Doctor of Technical Sciences, Deputy General designer. Contents 1 Biography 2 Famous works 3 ... ... Wikipedia
In Greek mythology, a dog that guards the gates of the underworld. Usually Kerberus was depicted with three heads and a snake tail; according to Hesiod, he had fifty heads. One of the labors of Hercules was to deliver Cerberus from Hades... ... Collier's Encyclopedia
Kerber- (Gr. Kerberos) 1st mit. in grchkata mitologija: three-headed heap with opashka serpent that felt like it got into the underground from the light 2. Kerberus fig. strict goalkeeper severe chuvar ... Macedonian dictionary
KERBER- (CERBERUS) A monstrous dog, the creation of an echidna, guarding the exit from Hades. Hesiod rewards her with fifty heads, but in classical art and literature she only has three. Hercules managed to bring him out of Hades, performing one of his twelve... Dictionary-reference book for Ancient Greece and Rome, according to mythology
Books
- Polymer processing technology. Physical and chemical processes. Textbook for universities, Kerber M.L.. In textbook the most important physical and chemical processes associated with the processing of various polymers are revealed. The processes of heat transfer and deformation in a wide range...
Complete encyclopedia mythological creatures. Story. Origin. Magic properties Conway Deanna
Cerberus
Cerberus (Spirit of the Underworld) - in Greek mythology, a huge dog of the Underworld, guarding the entrance to afterlife, the kingdom of Hecate, Persephone and Hades. This is an ugly dog with three mastiff heads and sometimes a snake or dragon tail. In order for the souls of the dead to enter the underworld, they must bring gifts to Cerberus - honey and barley biscuits. Cerberus' task is to prevent living people from entering the kingdom of the dead who want to rescue their loved ones from there. One of the few living people who managed to penetrate the underworld and emerge unharmed was Orpheus, who played beautiful music on the lyre. One of the labors of Hercules that the gods ordered him to perform was to lead Cerberus to the city of Tiryns.
It was believed that some herbs were contaminated with poison contained in the saliva of Cerberus. Some magicians collected these herbs and used them in evil spells.
Although Cerberus was associated with Greece and the Mediterranean, the many-headed dog was also depicted on a Tibetan painted linen panel.
Psychological characteristics: Often this is a person who has learned to interact with terminally ill and dying people.
Magic properties: Establishing contact with certain souls who have left this world to obtain information and help.
Cerberus
And Gaea), a three-headed dog with a poisonous mixture flowing from its mouth (Theogony 310; Hyginus. Myths 151). Cerberus guarded the exit from the kingdom of the dead Hades, not allowing the dead to return to the world of the living. However, this creature of amazing strength was defeated by Hercules in one of his labors.
Cerberus had the appearance of a three-headed dog with a snake tail, snake heads on his back, as creepy as his mother. According to other descriptions, he has 50 heads, or 100 heads, and in other mythology he is depicted with a human powerful body and the hands and one head of a mad dog. In one of the hands is the severed head of a bull, which killed with its breath, and in the other hand the head of a goat, which struck victims with its gaze. In works of vase painting it was sometimes depicted as double-headed.
Before his descent into the kingdom of the dead, Hercules was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, then Cora accepted him as a brother. Hercules defeated Cerberus with the help of Hermes and Athena. Cerberus vomited from the daylight, and the foam from his mouth produced the herb aconite. Hercules, when he brought out Cerberus, was crowned with the foliage of a silver poplar. Hercules, taking him out of Hades, showed him to Eurystheus, but then returned him back. It was after this feat that Eurystheus released Hercules.
Etymology
According to one version, ancient Greek Kerberos may correspond to Sanskrit सर्वरा sarvarā, epithet of one of the dogs of the god Yama, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerberos"spotted".
Another etymology is proposed by Bruce Lincoln. He brings together the name of Cerberus with the name of the guard dog Garm (Old Scandinavian Garmr), known from Scandinavian mythology, tracing both names to a Proto-Indo-European root *ger-"to growl" (possibly with suffixes -*m/*b And -*r). Brothers and sisters. Orff, twin brother, two-headed and two-tailed dog. Orff was guarding Geryon's cattle and was killed by Hercules during his abduction. Hydra (Lernaean Hydra) - a monster born of Typhon and Echidna, has a hundred snake heads, defeated by Hercules. And the Chimera, a monster with three heads: a lion, a goat and a snake, born of Echidna and Typhon. She was killed by Bellerophon.
In literature, art and science
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Notes
- in Russian language XVIII century, the form Cerberus entered in accordance with Late Latin pronunciation; however, since the 1920s, translations from ancient Greek and classical studies have been dominated by the form Kerber
- Myths of the peoples of the world. M., 1991-92. In 2 volumes. T.1. P.640
- Notes by M. L. Gasparov in the book. Pindar. Bacchylides. Odes. Fragments. M., 1980. P.480
- Hesiod. Theogony 769-774
- Hesiod. Theogony 312
- Horace. Odes II 13, 33
- Notes by V. G. Borukhovich in the book. Apollodorus. Mythological library. L., 1972. P. 154; Klein L. S. Anatomy of the Iliad. St. Petersburg, 1998. P.351
- Lycophron. Alexandra 1327
- Diodorus Siculus. Historical Library IV 25, 1; 26, 1
- Euripides. Hercules 613-615
- Homer. Odyssey XI 623-626, in Homer three-headedness is not mentioned, in Zhukovsky it is inaccurate
- Ovid. Metamorphoses VII 419; First Vatican Mythographer I 57, 2
- Theocritus. Idylls II 120; Notes by M.E. Grabar-Passek in the book. Theocritus. Moskh. Bion. Idylls and epigrams. M., 1998. P.253
- Pseudo-Apollodorus. Mythological Library II 5, 12; Gigin. Myths 30
- Pausanias. Description of Hellas II 31, 2; 35, 11
- Strabo. Geography VIII 5, 1 (p. 363)
- Pausanias. Description of Hellas IX 34.5
- Xenophon. Anabasis VI 2, 2
- Virgil. Aeneid VI 417-423
- The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World. - Oxford University Press, 2006. - P. 411. - ISBN 0199287910.
- Lincoln Bruce. Death, war, and sacrifice: studies in ideology and practice. - Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991. - P. 289. - ISBN 9780226481999.
- Scholium to Homer. Odyssey XIX 518 // Losev A.F. Mythology of the Greeks and Romans. M., 1996. P.126
- Theophrastus, fr.113 = Strabo. Geography X 4, 12 (p. 478)
- Hecataeus, fr.27 Jacobi = Pausanias. Description of Hellas III 25, 5
- Palefat. About the incredible 39
- Heraclitus the allegorist. About the incredible 33
- See Fulgentius. Mythologies I 6
Literature
- Kretschmar, Freda. Hundestammvater und Kerberos, Bd 1-2. - Stuttgart: Strecker und Schröder, 1938.(German)
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Excerpt characterizing Cerberus
- Try me for crime - oh! Give me some more water - let them judge, but I will, I will always beat the scoundrels, and I will tell the sovereign. Give me some ice,” he said.The regimental doctor who came said that it was necessary to bleed. A deep plate of black blood came out of Denisov’s shaggy hand, and only then was he able to tell everything that happened to him.
“I’m coming,” Denisov said. - “Well, where is your boss here?” Shown. Would you like to wait? “I have work, I came 30 miles away, I don’t have time to wait, report.” Okay, this chief thief comes out: he also decided to teach me: This is robbery! - “Robbery, I say, is committed not by the one who takes provisions to feed his soldiers, but by the one who takes it to put it in his pocket!” So would you like to remain silent? "Fine". Sign, he says, with the commission agent, and your case will be handed over to the command. I come to the commission agent. I enter - at the table... Who?! No, just think!...Who is starving us, - Denisov shouted, hitting the table with the fist of his sore hand, so hard that the table almost fell and the glasses jumped on it, - Telyanin! “What, are you starving us?!” Once, once in the face, deftly it was necessary... “Ah... with this and that and... began to roll. But I was amused, I can say,” Denisov shouted, baring his white teeth joyfully and angrily from under his black mustache. “I would have killed him if they hadn’t taken him away.”
“Why are you shouting, calm down,” Rostov said: “here the blood is starting again.” Wait, I need to bandage it. Denisov was bandaged and put to bed. The next day he woke up cheerful and calm. But at noon, the regimental adjutant with a serious and sad face came to the common dugout of Denisov and Rostov and with regret showed a uniform paper to Major Denisov from the regimental commander, in which inquiries were made about yesterday's incident. The adjutant reported that the matter was about to take a very bad turn, that a military court commission had been appointed, and that with the real severity regarding the looting and high-handedness of the troops, in a happy case, the matter could end in demotion.
The case was presented by those offended in such a way that, after the transport was recaptured, Major Denisov, without any summons, came to the chief of provisions in a drunken state, called him a thief, threatened him with beatings, and when he was taken out, he rushed into the office and beat up two officials and sprained one's arm.
Denisov, in response to Rostov’s new questions, laughingly said that it seemed like someone else had turned up here, but that it was all nonsense, nonsense, that he didn’t even think of being afraid of any courts, and that if these scoundrels dare to bully him, he would answer them so that they will remember.
Denisov spoke disparagingly about this whole matter; but Rostov knew him too well not to notice that in his soul (hiding it from others) he was afraid of the trial and was tormented by this matter, which, obviously, was supposed to have bad consequences. Every day, requests for papers and demands to the court began to arrive, and on the first of May Denisov was ordered to surrender the squadron to his senior man and appear at the division headquarters for explanations in the case of rioting in the provisions commission. On the eve of this day, Platov made reconnaissance of the enemy with two Cossack regiments and two squadrons of hussars. Denisov, as always, rode ahead of the line, flaunting his courage. One of the bullets fired by the French riflemen hit him in the flesh of his upper leg. Maybe at another time Denisov would not have left the regiment with such a light wound, but now he took advantage of this opportunity, refused to report to the division and went to the hospital.
In June, the Battle of Friedland took place, in which the Pavlograd residents did not participate, and after it a truce was declared. Rostov, who deeply felt the absence of his friend, having had no news about him since his departure and worrying about the progress of his case and his wounds, took advantage of the truce and asked to go to the hospital to visit Denisov.
The hospital was located in a small Prussian town, twice devastated by Russian and French troops. Precisely because it was in the summer, when it was so nice in the field, this place, with its broken roofs and fences and its dirty streets, ragged inhabitants and drunken and sick soldiers wandering around it, presented a particularly gloomy sight.
In a stone house, in a courtyard with the remains of a dismantled fence, some broken frames and glass, there was a hospital. Several bandaged, pale and swollen soldiers walked and sat in the courtyard in the sun.
As soon as Rostov entered the door of the house, he was overwhelmed by the smell of a rotting body and a hospital. On the stairs he met a Russian military doctor with a cigar in his mouth. A Russian paramedic followed the doctor.
“I can’t burst,” said the doctor; - Come to Makar Alekseevich in the evening, I’ll be there. – The paramedic asked him something else.
- Eh! do as you please! Doesn't it matter? - The doctor saw Rostov climbing the stairs.
- Why are you here, your honor? - said the doctor. - Why are you here? Or the bullet didn’t kill you, so you want to get typhus? Here, father, is the house of lepers.
- From what? - asked Rostov.
- Typhus, father. Whoever rises will die. Only the two of us with Makeyev (he pointed to the paramedic) are chatting here. At this point, about five of our brother doctors died. “As soon as the new one arrives, he’ll be ready in a week,” the doctor said with visible pleasure. “They called Prussian doctors, because our allies don’t like that.”
Rostov explained to him that he wanted to see the hussar major Denisov lying here.
- I don’t know, I don’t know, father. Just think, I have three hospitals for one person, 400 patients are too many! It’s also good, the Prussian ladies who are benefactors send us coffee and lint at two pounds a month, otherwise they would be lost. - He laughed. – 400, father; and they keep sending me new ones. After all, there are 400? A? – he turned to the paramedic.
The paramedic looked exhausted. He was apparently waiting with annoyance to see how soon the chattering doctor would leave.
“Major Denisov,” Rostov repeated; – he was wounded near Moliten.
- It seems he died. Eh, Makeev? – the doctor asked the paramedic indifferently.
The paramedic, however, did not confirm the doctor’s words.
- Why is he so long and reddish? - asked the doctor.
Rostov described Denisov's appearance.
“There was, there was one,” the doctor said as if joyfully, “this one must have died, but I can handle it, I had the lists.” Do you have it, Makeev?