They interpreted the word in this context to mean “spotted” and hypothesized that śabála- and several similar-sounding Sanskrit words with similar meanings might all be derived from a common Proto-Indic root word, which they reconstructed as *śárbara. In the nineteenth century, some early western philologists who were trying to reconstruct the Proto-Indo-European language noticed that, in the Ṛgveda 10.14.10–12, the Sanskrit word शबल ( śabála-), which means “various in color,” is used to describe the two dogs of Yama, the god of the underworld. Because it is one of the earliest surviving texts in any Indo-European language, the Ṛgveda is an especially important source for reconstructing the Proto-Indo-European language. 1200 BCE, making it roughly the same age as the standard Akkadian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is generally thought to date to sometime between c. The Ṛgveda is probably the oldest surviving text in the Sanskrit language. These dialects eventually diverged into separate Indo-European languages.ĪBOVE: Map from Wikimedia Commons illustrating the spread of early Indo-European languages, according to the most widely accepted version of the Kurgan hypothesisĪ highly speculative etymological hypothesis Somehow or another, speakers of this language spread out across Eurasia, bringing gradually diverging forms of their language with them. The most widely accepted hypothesis today is that Proto-Indo-European was most likely spoken in the steppes north of the Black Sea in what is now Ukraine and southern Russia, perhaps from around 4500 BCE to around 2500 BCE. Through careful comparative study, it is also possible to acquire some information about the original speakers of this language, who are known as the Proto-Indo-Europeans. There are no speakers of the language alive today and there is no surviving writing in it, but scholars can reconstruct some of the basic morphology, syntax, phonology, and core vocabulary of the language by comparing the various languages derived from it that are directly attested. The Proto-Indo-European language is not directly attested. All Indo-European languages, including Ancient Greek and Sanskrit, are ultimately derived from a common ancestor, which linguists have dubbed “Proto-Indo-European.” Other ancient languages that belong to this same language family include Hittite, Proto-Celtic, Latin, Proto-Germanic, and (most crucially for our purposes) Sanskrit-the classical language of the Indian subcontinent and sacred language of Hinduism. In order to understand where this whole supposed etymology for Kerberos’s name comes from, it is important to understand at least a little bit about Indo-European linguistics.Īncient Greek is one of many languages that belong to the much larger Indo-European language family. Kerberos’s name certainly does not mean “Spot” in Ancient Greek, and it probably doesn’t mean this in any language at all.Ī very brief introduction to Indo-European linguisticsįirst, let’s get something out of the way: Κέρβερος does not mean “Spot” or “Spotted” in Greek, nor is there any word in Greek with this meaning to which the name Κέρβερος might be related. How deliciously ironic it would be for a literal Hellhound to have such a normal dog name like “Spot”! Unfortunately, the story probably isn’t true. There is a popular meme that has been circulating on the internet for a long time claiming that the name Κέρβερος ( Kérberos) actually means “Spot.” This is a cute story. From the fourth century BCE onward, though, three heads seem to have become the standard. He is often also depicted with a serpent for a tail. In Greek vase paintings, he is usually portrayed with either two or three heads. 438 BCE) says in a fragment (F249a/b SM) that he has no less than one hundred heads. The later poet Pindaros of Thebes (lived c. The Theogonia, a long narrative poem in dactylic hexameter composed by the poet Hesiodos of Askre in the late eighth or early seventh century BCE, says (in lines 308–312) that Kerberos has fifty heads. Ancient Greek sources disagree on exactly how many heads he has. In Greek mythology, Cerberus-or, to use a spelling that is more faithful to the Greek pronunciation, Kerberos-is the ferocious, many-headed watchdog who guards the entrance to the underworld.
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