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Hercules is asked to rescue one in agony who is prey to vast suffering. A vision then appears before Hercules inner eye: he sees Prometheus in Hades, shackled to a rock and groaning as if his heart would break. A fierce vulture pecks continually at his liver. Downward into the binding worlds of form and darkness Hercules travels, at last entering Hades and finding his way through labyrinthine paths to the king of the underworld who demands to know what a living mortal is doing in his realms. When he learns that Hercules seeks to free Prometheus, the king warns that the way is guarded by Cerberus, a monstrous dog with three great heads, each coiled about with serpents. If, however, he can conquer it with his bare hands, he may unbind Prometheus. The triple-headed dog, with its piercing bark, quickly attacks Hercules, and, grasping its primary throat, he holds it in his vice-like grip until its strength subsides. He then breaks Prometheus chains and sets him free.
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North Africa/Middle East
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