Beware the Dog: In Welsh myth, the Otherworld of Annwn was guarded by the spectral hounds of Gwyn ap Nudd the fairy king of the dead. These dogs, the Cwn Annwn, barked and howled loudly when at a distance, getting ever more silent as they snuck up on their quarry, and to hear the howling of these hellhounds was a portent of impending doom. Favorite dogs of the Wild Hunt, they were large and ghostly white, with blood red ears and eyes, and though frightful to look upon, they were rather benign. Beware the Greeks Bearing Gifts: In ancient Greece, however, the underworld of Hades was guarded by the incredibly ferocious 3-headed monster Cerberus, a vicious dog who would never allow any to enter Hades under pain of death. To get around the legendary fiend many a brave hero--and heroine--sought the aid of the gods. Heracles, son of Zeus, strangled Cerberus with his superhuman strength, but the warrior Aeneas and the unlucky maiden Psyche, neither blessed with the powers of the strongest man in the world and both desperately needing to reach Hades to fulfill important missions, drugged the beast with honeycakes. Further lulled to sleep with soft music from Orpheus' lyre, Cerberus was defeated not one, not two, but THREE times, and once even by a WOMAN! Not a great rep to have, I dare say--sometimes I guess the bark really is worse than the bite.... Don't comment on this one. I'm serious.