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

bodies,” or simply Tricerberus A name meaning "Triple Cerberus". Tibullus A Roman poet of the 1st century BC says explicitly that he has both three heads and three tongues: "who possesses three tongues and a triple head" original Latin: cui tres sint linguæ tergeminumque caput. Virgil, in the Aeneid (Book 6, line 417), describes the huge Cerberus barking with triple jaws, his neck bristling with serpents. Ovid, in his Metamorphoses (Book 10, line 21), depicts Orpheus—while searching for his dear Eurydice in Tartarus The deepest part of the underworld—declaring that he did not go down there to chain the three necks of the monster born of Medusa, which were shaggy with serpents.

His role is also established for all time; he is the terrible, fearless, and watchful gatekeeper original: janitor or guardian original: custos of Orcus A name for the underworld, the Styx, Lethe, or the "black Kingdom."¹ He remains so for modern poets, such as when Dante, following Virgil's example, describes him:²

“When Cerberus, that great worm, had seen us,
He opened his mouth and showed his fangs;
Then my leader, with his palms folded,
Took some earth, and filling his hand full,
Flung it down into those hungry throats.”

¹ "The ever-watchful dog-guardian of the dark kingdom." original Latin: Custos opaci pervigil regni canis Seneca.
² Inferno, Canto 6, lines 13 and following.