CHICAGO
To the Memory
of
F. Max Mueller
CERBERUS, THE DOG OF HADES
Hermes, the guide of the dead, brings to Pluto's kingdom their psyches,
"that gibber like bats, as they fare down the dank ways, past the
streams of Okeanos, past the gates of the sun and the land of dreams, to
the meadow of asphodel in the dark realm of Hades, where dwell the
souls, the phantoms of men outworn." So begins the twenty-fourth book of
the _Odyssey_. Later poets have Charon, a grim boatsman, receive the
dead at the River of Woe; he ferries them across, provided the passage
money has been placed in their mouths, and their bodies have been duly
buried in the world above. Otherwise they are left to gibber on the
hither bank. Pluto's house, wide-gated, thronged with guests, has a
janitor Kerberos, sometimes friendly, sometimes snarling when new
guests arrive, but always hostile to those who would depart. Honey cakes
are provided for them that are about to go to Hades--the sop to
Cerberus. This dog, nameless and undescribed, Homer mentions simply as
the dog of Hades, whom Herakles, as the last and chief test of his
strength, snatched from the horrible house of Hades.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25