Cerberus, the Dog of Hades: The History of an Idea

Explanation of the Frontispiece

The picture is reproduced from Baumeister's Monuments of Classical Antiquity original German: Denkmäler des klassischen Alterthums, volume I, figure 730 (text on page 663). It is taken from a vase and describes one of the twelve heroic deeds often called the "Labors of Hercules" of Herakles the Greek name for Hercules. The latter, holding his club high, drags the two-headed Cerberus the guard dog of the underworld out of Hades by a chain drawn through the jaw of one of its heads. He is just about to lead Cerberus through a portal indicated by an Ionic pillar. To the right, Persephone the queen of the underworld, stepping out of her palace, seems to forbid the abduction original: "rape," here used in the classical sense of "seizure" or "carrying away". Herakles, in turn, seems to threaten the goddess, while Hermes the messenger of the gods, to the left, holds a protecting or restraining arm over him. Athena original: Athene, with her face turned away and ready to depart with her protégé, stands in front of four horses hitched to her chariot. Upon her shield, an eagle serves as an omen of the success of the entire undertaking.