μῦθοι Mythoi
Motif

Hound of hell. Cerberus (monstrous dog) guards the bridge to the lower world.

Mythological motifs. · Cosmogony and cosmology. · The universe. · Nature of the universe. · Nature of the lower world. · view the constellation · filed as A673

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“When Hercules called for wine, he said he feared to open the jar which belonged to the centaurs in common.? But Hercules, bidding him be of good courage, opened it, and not long afterwards, scenting the smell, the centaurs arrived at the cave of Pholus, armed with rocks and firs. The first who dared to enter, Anchius and Agrius, were repelled by Hercules with a shower of brands, and the rest of them he shot and pursued as far as Malea.”

— The Library (Bibliotheca), BOOK II, ch. V · served from our shelf uncorrected OCR — being verified against the scan

On our shelf — the index’s citations, resolved to served chapters
Scholars’ trail — 6references

The index’s own references — the collections where scholars sighted this story-shape, tradition by tradition. Titles on our shelf are live links; the rest is the frontier, not yet shelved.

  • GreekFox 88
  • NorseHerrmann Nordische Mythologie 599ff., MacCulloch Eddic 303f.
  • general *Encyc. Rel. Ethics I 493a
  • general *Fb "hund" III 678b. – Gaster Thespis 214
  • general Frazer Apollodorus I 232 n. 1 → on our shelf: The Library (Bibliotheca), BOOK II, ch. V
  • general Persian and Hindu: Keith 69. – Eskimo (Greenland): Rink 326, (Cumberland Sound): Boas BAM XV 165.
Within the index

Filed under Nature of the lower world.

2 finer motifs beneath it
Dogs in hellCock of hell
Filed beside it
Hell. Lower world of tormentStygian river. River in lower world. In Greek myth five such rivers in Hades, Styx (hate), Acheron (mourning), Kokytus (lamentation), Lethe (forgetfulness) and Pyrephlegethon (flame)Judges in the lower worldShip of hellWorkmen and tradesmen of hellIn other world one room contains the dead, another contains souls of the unborn waiting to enter the wombs of women, and a third contains all the evil spiritsSun in the underworldHole to lower world up which people comeNature of the lower world – miscellaneous
Travels with
Dogs in otherworld. (Cf. A673.)
Keeps company with — shares receipted episodes
Two-headed dogHydra: nine-headed monster. Middle head immortalMan-eating maresCentaur: man-horse. Trunk and head of man, body of horseHind with golden hornsTransformation to animal to seduce womanMagic goblet (glass)Transportation by magic goblet. (Cf. D1171.6.2.)Immortality exchanged. Wounded Centaur immortal but cannot be cured. He gives away his immortality to Prometheus and is thus allowed to diePerson with three bodies. Body of three men grown together in one at waist but parted in three from flanks and thighsTasks imposed. A person's prowess is tested by assigning him certain tasks (usually impossible or extremely difficult) to be performed either to escape punishment or to receive a valuable rewardTask: cleaning Augean stable. Stable has not been cleaned in years. Must be done in one night. River turned through it

wander