Hellhounds

A hellhound is a supernatural dog in folklore. A wide variety of hellish dogs occur in mythologies around the world. Some European legends state that if someone stares into a hellhound's eyes twice or more, that person will surely die. Hellhounds often have fire-based abilities and appearance. They are often assigned to guard the entrances to the world of the dead, such as graveyards and burial grounds, or undertake other duties such as hunting lost souls. In European legends, seeing a hellhound or hearing it howl is an omen or even a cause of death. They are said to be the protectors of the supernatural. Hellhounds of myth is common across Great Britain and Western Europe.

In southern Mexico and Central America folklore, the Cadejo haunts travelers who walk late at night.

The Bearer of Death is a term often used in describing the Hellhound. Hellhounds are said to be as black as coal with a smell of burning brimstone. They leave behind a burned area wherever they go. In Greek mythology the hellhound belonged to Hades, the Greek god of death and the underworld. It's name in Greek mythology is Cerberus. It has three heads and guards the gates of hell. The three heads were meant to symbolize the past, present and future.

Hades with Cerberus - Pluto Carricci painting

Cerberus is a well known creature in ancient mythology. Hades’ loyal guard dog, Cerberus only had an appetite for living flesh and so would only allow dead spirits to pass, while consuming any living mortal who was foolish enough to come near. Cerberus was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon, and was usually described as having a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from his body.

Cerberus is best known as the twelfth and final labor of Heracles. Heracles must enter the underworld, wrestle the beast using no weapons, and then bring Cerberus to the surface world, alive, to present to the Mycenaean king Eurystheus. Although Eurystheus commanded him to bring back Cerberus, it was not from any desire to see Cerberus, but only because Eurystheus thought that the task was impossible. Heracles made his descent into the underworld through an entrance at Tainaron, the most famous of the various Greek entrances to the underworld. It took its name from the mythical son of Zeus, Taenarus, who built a town named Taenarum after himself. A cave network was believed to be an entrance to Hades. This gate was guarded by Cerberus, a beast that prevented the dead from escaping and the living from entering.

Heracles tackled the beast, throws it over his shoulder and drags him to the mortal world. Upon seeing Cerberus, Eurystheus was so terrified that he hid in a large vase and begged Heracles to return the hell hound back to Hades.

The domain of Hades in Greek mythology was not only hell, but was the whole of the afterlife. The realm was Tartarus (hell), the Asphodel Meadows (nothingness), and the Elysian Fields (paradise).