His sole task is essentially be the 'bouncer' of Hades. He is one of the great Greek monsters born unto Typhon and Echidna. In Greek mythology Cerberus is depicted as a dog with three ferocious heads and the tail of a snake. Heracles was able to overpower Cerberus and proceeded to sling the beast over his back, dragging it out of the underworld through a cavern entrance in the Peloponnese and bringing it to Eurystheus. Heracles found Hades and asked permission to bring Cerberus to the surface, to which Hades agreed if Heracles could overpower the beast without using weapons. When Heracles had pulled Theseus first from his chair, some of his thigh stuck to it (this explains the supposedly lean thighs of Athenians), but the earth shook at the attempt to liberate Pirithous, whose desire to have the wife of a god for himself was so insulting, he was doomed to stay behind. They unknowingly sat in chairs of forgetfulness and were permanently ensnared. One tradition tells of snakes coiling around their legs then turning into stone another tells that Hades feigned hospitality and prepared a feast inviting them to sit.

The two companions had been imprisoned by Hades for attempting to kidnap Persephone. Whilst in the underworld, Heracles met Theseus and Pirithous.

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