To give a sop to Cerberus
Preserved but no longer current.
To give a bribe, to quiet a troublesome customer, Cerberus is Pluto's three:headed dog, stationed at the gates of the infernal regions. When persons died the Greeks and Romans used to put a cake in their hands as a sop to Cerberus, to allow them to pass without molestation.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “To give a sop to Cerberus” mean?
To give a bribe, to quiet a troublesome customer, Cerberus is Pluto's three:headed dog, stationed at the gates of the infernal regions. When persons died the Greeks and Romans used to put a cake in their hands as a sop to Cerberus, to allow them to pass without molestation.
Is “To give a sop to Cerberus” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.