"Cerberus is the name given to the entity which, in Greek and Roman mythology, is a multi-headed dog which guards the gates of Hades, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping. Cerberus featured in many prominent works of ancient Greek and Roman literature and in works of both ancient and modern art and architecture. As with most creatures from classicial mythology, the depiction and background surrounding Cerberus often differed across various works by different authors of the era, the most notable difference being his number of heads; while most sources describe or depict three heads, others show him with two, a lesser number show a variable amount, sometimes as high as 50."
- Wikipedia
"Men say that Typhaon the terrible, outrageous and lawless, was joined in love to her, the maid with glancing eyes. So she conceived and brought forth fierce offspring; first she bare Orthus the hound of Geryones, and then again she bare a second, a monster not to be overcome and that may not be described, Cerberus who eats raw flesh, the brazen-voiced hound of Hades, fifty-headed, relentless and strong."
- The Theogony of Hesiod
"No sooner landed, in his den they found
The triple porter of the Stygian sound,
Grim Cerberus, who soon began to rear
His crested snakes, and armed his bristling hair.
The prudent Sibyl had before prepar'd
A sop, in honey steeped, to charm the guard;
Which, mixed with powerful drugs, she cast before
His greedy grinning jaws, just oped to roar.
With three enormous mouths he gapes; and straight,
With hunger pressed, devours the pleasing bait.
Long draughts of sleep his monstrous limbs enslave;
He reels, and, falling, fills the spacious cave.
The keeper charmed, the chief without delay
Passed on, and took the irremeable way."
- The Aeneid by Virgil
"Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is one of the largest private equity investment firms in the United States. The firm is based in New York City, and run by 48-year-old financier Steve Feinberg. Former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle has been a prominent Cerberus spokesperson and runs one of its international units.
Founded in 1992, Cerberus (named for the legendary three-headed dog in Greek mythology that guarded the gates of Hades) invests primarily in companies which are near bankruptcy in the hope of making the businesses it acquires profitable. Feinberg has stated to his employees that while the Cerberus name seemed like a good idea at the time, he later regretted naming the company after the mythological dog."
- Wikipedia
"A twelfth labour imposed on Hercules was to bring Cerberus from Hades. Now this Cerberus had three heads of dogs, the tail of a dragon, and on his back the heads of all sorts of snakes. When Hercules was about to depart to fetch him, he went to Eumolpus at Eleusis, wishing to be initiated. However it was not then lawful for foreigners to be initiated: since he proposed to be initiated as the adoptive son of Pylius. But not being able to see the mysteries because he had not been cleansed of the slaughter of the centaurs, he was cleansed by Eumolpus and then initiated. And having come to Taenarum in Laconia, where is the mouth of the descent to Hades, he descended through it. But when the souls saw him, they fled, save Meleager and the Gorgon Medusa. And Hercules drew his sword against the Gorgon, as if she were alive, but he learned from Hermes that she was an empty phantom. And being come near to the gates of Hades he found Theseus and Pirithous, him who wooed Persephone in wedlock and was therefore bound fast. And when they beheld Hercules, they stretched out their hands as if they should be raised from the dead by his might. And Theseus, indeed, he took by the hand and raised up, but when he would have brought up Pirithous, the earth quaked and he let ho. And he rolled away also the stone of Ascalaphus. And wishing to provide the souls with blood, he slaughtered one of the kine of Hades. But Menoetes, son of Ceuthonymus, who tended the kine, challenged Hercules to wrestle, and being seized round the middle, had his ribs broken; howbeit, he was let off at the request of Persephone.
When Hercules asked Pluto for Cerberus, Pluto ordered him to take the animal provided he mastered him without the use of the weapons which he carried. Hercules found him at the gates of Acheron, and cased in his cuirass and covered by the lion's skin, he flung his arms round the head of the brute, and though the dragon in its tail bit him, he never relaxed his grip and pressure till it yielded. So he carried it off and ascended through Troezen. But Demeter turned Ascalaphus into a short-eared owl, and Hercules, after showing Cerberus to Eurystheus, carried him back to Hades."
- Apollodorus, Bibliotheca II
SATAN: You blundering dolts! Don't you realize you've entered the
fiery realm of Hades?
WAKKO: Hades! [Runs and gets a snowball]
Boy! They were right. It didn't have a chance.
SATAN: Silence! And now prepare to suffer indescribable torment!
YAKKO: Another Bob Hope special?
{Oh, Where, Oh, Where Has My Little Dog Gone?}
SATAN: Worse! Behold -- Cerberus, the hound of Hades! Cerebus, my pet,
toss these fools into the Lake of Fire, but slowly. I want to watch
them wiggle in agony.
YAKKO: How 'bout if we just wiggle here?
Y,W,D: Wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle!
[[give or take a wiggle]]
SATAN: Cease this at once! Cerberus, my pet, throw them in!
- Animaniacs, episode #30
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