Ryan_cacus_chandler

Cacus : The Fire Giant   Origin: Cacus was known to be the son of Vulcan, which is probably how he became known as a pre-god of fire.He had a sister, Caca, who later betrayed him in a way that would cause his death.The name cacus came from the greek word of evil, kakos. He lived in a cave in Aventine Hill in Italy which is now the area of which we call Rome. He was known for taking passing travelers, ripping off their flesh for food, and decapitating them in order to use their heads as decorations for his home.

Appearance: Cacus has been described many times, but there have been many different, somewhat contradicting ways to describe him. Dente described him as a centaur that had a dragon's head and wings on its body with snakes on his back. Roman myth, though describes him as just a fire-breathing giant.

Myth: During Hercules' tenth labor, Hercules decided to sleep nearby some cattle that he had taken from another person earlier. Cacus decided that he would take 4 bulls and 4 cows back to his cave. He cleverly picked up the animals by their tails in order to leave no trail. Here is a depiction of how that happened with some changes to the story. media type="custom" key="12024977" width="80" height="80" In the actual story Hercules and the other villagers were not awake. Hercules later awoke to see that some of his cattler were stolen. He saw some of the nonstolen cows making noises to the cave in which Cacus lived. (In another version Cacus's sister, Caca, comes to Hercules and rats out where he lives). Hercules goes to the caves in rage. Cacus sees this and puts a boulder in the front of his cave. Hercules responds by ripping off the top of the mountain in order to find Cacus. Cacus attacks using fire and creates a smoke which is hard to see through as Hercules fights using large trees and rocks. After awhile Hercules sees wher the smoke is the thickest and grabs and strangles Cacus. Hercules then founds an alter to commemorate himself for killing Cacus. This staue was made about the myth. Importance: since Cacus played little part in mythology there is little importance to him, but he created another challenge for Hercules to face during the tenth out of twelve labors he had to do to become Greece's greatest hero, so you can draw meaning from that.

 Modern Reference: The newest reference  to Cacus would be from the 14th century in Dante's Inferno which is the 1st part of the //Divine Comedy.// In that story he guards the thieves in the Eighth Circle of Hell and bites the thieves in order to make them transform.

Sources: [] www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title= **Cacus ** [] [] []