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[Alexandr Korol]

“The etymology of the name Cerberus has not been clarified. There are several versions. According to one, it is connected with the Sanskrit Sarvara — an epithet of one of the dogs of the god Yama. Through the Proto-Indo-European ‘spotted’ — Kerberos. Another etymology was proposed by Bruce Lincoln. He considers the name Cerberus to be connected with the name of the watchdog Garm (Garmr), known from Scandinavian mythology, tracing both names back to a Proto-Indo- European root. Origin and appearance. The first mention of the dog of Hades (without specifying a name) in ancient Greek literature is found in Homer’s Iliad. His name is first recorded in Hesiod’s Theogony. There he is presented as the son of Echidna and Typhon, a monstrous dog with 50 heads. In various ancient sources the number of heads may range from one to one hundred, as well as the appearance of Cerberus. In the earliest depictions Cerberus has two heads. His image could be supplemented with a snake instead of a tail, snakes on his back, neck, and belly. In late antiquity the representation of Cerberus as a three- headed dog became established, with the middle head possibly being leonine. Cerberus stood at the gates, serving as a guard for Hades. He did not allow the dead to leave, nor the living to enter. Such a conception of the afterlife in Ancient Greece also influenced burial customs: the hand of the deceased was placed before burial with a honey cake for Cerberus. The subduing of Cerberus in Hades was originally perceived as the penultimate labor of Hercules before the abduction of the apples of the Hesperides. Subsequently it became regarded as the last deed by order of Eurystheus. Hercules descended into the underworld. In Greece there were several places where, according to the myth, Hercules entered the underworld and emerged from it. Strabo conveys a version about a cave connected with the underworld on Cape Taenarum, in the southwest of the Peloponnese. Pausanias describes two such places: behind the temple of Chthonia in Hermione and in Coroneia in Boeotia. Approaching the very entrance to Hades, he discovered Theseus and Pirithous bound, who implored them to be freed. Hercules managed to free only Theseus. When he saw the god Hades, he began to ask him to give him Cerberus. Hades permitted him to take the dog if Hercules could overcome the guardian with his bare hands. Hercules, being protected by the armor and the hide of the Nemean lion, seized the dog’s neck and strangled the monster until he subdued him. When Cerberus saw the sunlight, he began to resist. From the foam falling from the mouth of the