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Bloomfield, Maurice, 1855-1928

"Cerberus, The Dog of Hades The History of an Idea"

Such a vase may be seen in Gerhard, _Auserlesene
Vasenbilder_, ii. 131.[7] Or still more conveniently, Professor Norton
has reproduced[8] an amphora in the Louvre with a picture of the
dicephalous Kerberos. Upon the forehead of each of the two heads rises a
serpent. Herakles in tunic and lion's skin, armed with bow, quiver, and
sword, stoops towards the dog. He holds a chain in his left hand, while
he stretches out his right with a petting gesture. Between the two is a
tree, against which leans the club of Herakles. Behind him stands
Athena.

CERBERUS IN ROMAN AND MODERN LITERATURE.
Neither Greek literature, nor Greek art, however, really seems to fix
either the shape or nature of Kerberos; it was left to the Roman poets
to say the last word about him. They finally settle the number of his
heads, or the number of his bodies fused in one. He is _triceps_
"three-headed," _triplex_ or _tergeminus_ "threefold," _triformis_ "of
three bodies," or simply Tricerberus. Tibullus says explicitly that he
has both three heads and three tongues: _cui tres sint linguae
tergeminumque caput_.


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