Cerberus is a giant dog with three heads who is servant to Hades and guards the gates of the Underworld. He is a mighty monster, who has been featured in many myths and stories and has been described in multiple ways. Cerberus is the descendant of Typhon, a multi-headed snake and Echidna, a half snake. He is brother to other multi-headed creatures, most notably the Hydra, a snake with multiple heads, and the Chimera, who has the heads of a lion, a snake and a goat. He usually wanders the banks of the river Styx and with few exceptions, is unmatched in preventing the dead from departing and the living from entering. (Cerberus, n.d.)
Cerberus was given to Hades as a gift by his sister, Hera, the goddess of womanhood, marriage and birth. When Cerberus was born Zeus was in the midst of eradicating the world of monsters. Zeus had just defeated Cerberus’ father and was about to defeat his mother. Hera refused to allow this and Zeus relented and allowed Echidna and the monstrous offspring to live. Echidna offered Cerberus as tribute to Hera. Hera was disgusted by Cerberus, but knew that Echidna could be a potentially powerful ally. She then gifted him to Hades, where Cerberus became a cherished pet and was trained by Hades to be a ferocious guard dog. (Cerberus the Hellhound of Hades, n.d)
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He is often shown with three-heads although not consistently. He has been shown as having as many as fifty or even one hundred heads; additionally the types of heads are disputed. The only agreement is that at least one head is that of a dog. Some describe him as having multiple snake heads or the heads of many beasts. Likely due to his heritage with other part snake creatures, he is often described as having a snake for a tail, as well as the occasional description of him with a mane of snakes, or even a snake body. (Cerberus,