Cerberus, with three heads and the tail of a snake, is the watchdog of the Underworld in Greek mythology. His main role is to guard the entrance to Hades, the world of the dead, and to catch and eat any who try to escape. Cerberus is very happy to welcome dead people who come to his world, but never permits living people to enter Hades. Heracles was forced by Eurystheus to do twelve dangerous labors, each of which involved risking his life. The last labor was to catch Cerberus and bring him back to the upper world from the Underworld, without using any weapons. Heracles skillfully caught Cerberus, took him to Eurystheus, and brought him back to the Underworld again.
Cerberus often appears on black-figure vases, mainly from the second half of the 6th century B.C.1 Among them, the Caeretan hydria in the Louvre is a masterpiece. On those vases, Cerberus is not depicted alone, but usually appears with Heracles leading him or dragging him in the scene from the twelve labors.
The round front line of the body extends smoothly to the very tight waist. The swelling of the thigh creates a finely balanced rump. The slight ups and downs of the rump and hip splen-didly suggest a realistic skeleton and musculature. Each of the three heads comes out of the body in a smooth curve. The eyes of the three heads are fixed in different directions and the ears of the three heads are at different angles so each head has a distinctive face. This beautiful depiction makes the three heads of Cerberus seem quite natural. This feature is parallel to the balance of sympathetic interpretation and naturalistic representation, never surpassed, that the Classical characterization of animals attained,2 which can be seen, for example, in the splendid leaping deer of the Philadelphia University Museum. Although this Cerberus is thought, because of its base, to have been part of the decoration on some kind of vessel, it can be appreciated as separate work of art.
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