Cerberus is the three-headed hound who stands guard on the gates to the underworld, preventing anyone from leaving Hade’s realm. He will allow the living in, but once a person is in, there is not getting out unless they are able to survive a meeting with Cerberus!

Before we get into the stories around this hound who guards to entrance way to hell itself, we should probably look at where he came from! Cerberus is not your common or garden mutt and would not be the type of canine you would want to give belly rubs to – well you might but it would be the last belly rub your ever gave!

In Greek mythology, Cerberus’ name is from the Greek word ‘Kerberos’ which means spotted – but this is no dalmatian! As with every creature we come across, there is more than one description of the hell hound, but the most common representation shows him to have three heads, which represent the past, the present and the future or in some tales birth, youth, and old age. He sometimes appears with a lions like man of snakes and claws with a serpent’s tail. His parents were Typhon, who was so powerful that event the gods feared him, and Echidna who was half-woman and half-snake who, in Greek myth, lured men to her cave and ate them raw! He also has some powerful, and terrifying siblings, the Chimera, Orthrus (another multi-headed dog) and the Hydra so this was not a family to be messed with!