Cerberus (SUR-buh-rus). Hades' guard dog, a relative of both the Chimaera and the Hydra. Cerberus was carried up from Hades by Heracles in one his Labors. This was achieved only after a protracted battle in which the hero was mauled by the hound's fangs and menaced by snakes growing from his back and tail. In contrast, Cerberus abandoned his watchdog task and lay down meekly to the strains of Orpheus's lyre when that minstrel journeyed to the Underworld in search of his dead wife Eurydice. The poison used in Medea's attempt to murder Theseus was made from Cerberus's drool.