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

at the same time, crossing in Charon’s ferry The boat used by the ferryman of the dead to transport souls across the River Styx. As they are approaching the other bank of the Styx, where a three-headed Cerberus is awaiting them, the girl seems frightened original: "afright" and is supported by her male companion.¹ On the other hand, a bronze statue in Naples shows the smiling boy Herakles The Greek name for the hero famously known by the Roman name Hercules engaged in strangling two serpents, one with each hand. The figure rests on a cylindrical base upon which are depicted eight of the miraculous deeds which Herakles performs later on. By a rope, he leads a two-headed Cerberus from Hades.²

This last of the miraculous deeds of Herakles is a favorite theme of vase paintings. Herakles is regularly accompanied by the gods Hermes and Athena; the dog, whose marvelous shape the poet Homer fails to reveal, is generally depicted as two-headed. Such a vase may be seen in Gerhard’s Selected Vase Paintings original German: "Auserlesene Vasenbilder", volume 2, plate 131.³ Or still more conveniently, Professor...

¹ Baumeister, volume I, page 379 (figure 415).
² Baumeister, volume I, page 653 (figure 721).
³ Baumeister, volume I, page 663 (figure 730). See the Frontispiece and its explanation.