92 Dr. Mitra — Origin of Myth about Kerberos. [May, 



Z£ 'Epe'/^evs a£ovra Kvva crrvyepov 'Ac&xo. (6 368). 



In tbe Odyssey (XI, 626) the subject is referred to when Herakles 

 tells Odysseus that his sufferings are but a reflection of the toils which 

 Herakles himself had undergone. 



" Of all which one was, to descend this strand 

 And hale the dog from thence. He could not think 

 An act that danger could make deeper sink, 

 And yet this depth I drew, and fetch'd as high, 

 As this was low, the dog." 



(Chapman's translation.) 

 In neither place the name of the dog is given ; but Hesiod (III, 1 1) calls 

 him Kerberos, and assigns him fifty heads. Apollodoros, Euripides and 

 Virgil reduce the number of heads to three ; while some poets prefer to call 

 the animal "many-headed" or " hundred-headed" (Horat. Carm. II, 13, 34. 

 Tzetz. Lycoph. VI, 78. Seinec. Here. fur. 784). Apollodoros says that the 

 tail of this animal was formed by a serpent, and the mane by a number 

 of snakes of various kinds. It was begotten by Typhon and Echidna. 

 Hesiod describes another dog of the same parentage, and assigns him 

 to Geryones (293). Thus the Greeks had two dogs, the counterparts 

 of the Vedic Sarameyau. Orthros was the shepherd dog which Hera- 

 kles destroyed, and was frightful enough to be reckoned a monster 

 whose destruction would reflect credit on the great hero : the feat repre- 

 sents his eighth labour. This dog is the counterpart of the Vritra of the 

 Vedic legend. He did not, however, attain to any distinction, and was soon 

 forgotten. Kerberos, on the other hand, played a prominent part in 

 Hellenic mythology. As the three-headed monster watching the gate 

 of Hades, it was very much dreaded, and as a dog, like every other dog, 

 was detested by the Greeks. 



The belief was that he did no harm to those who entered the mansion 

 of Pluto, but tore up those who attempted to escape from it. This is, 

 however, not in keeping with the legend which says that he growled fierce- 

 ly when Orpheus was entering the portals of Hades, and had to be lulled 

 by the enchanting music of that gifted harper. One of the greatest feats 

 of Herakles was the dragging out of the monster from his nook, and this 

 could not be effected without the assistance of such divine personages as 

 Athene and Hermes. 



The three heads of the animal were not peculiarly its own, for Hermes 

 had the same number of heads, whence his name ' Trikephalos,' and so had 

 Hekate ' triformis.' According to Bryant the meaning of Kerberos is 

 " darkness" (epefios) — the darkness of Hades or of night, the Sanskrit 

 equivalent being S'arvara or Sambara, night slain by Indra. 



