No one can definitely know what happens to the body, mind and soul of a person at the time of death. Even in our technologically advanced age, when supersensitive devices are capable of registering the slightest vibration in the world ether, almost at the level of molecules, the mystery of death remains the same unknown phenomenon. True, there is little consolation - sooner or later, we all learn about what is happening "on the other side." It is quite natural that in the mythologies, religions and beliefs of almost all peoples, great attention is paid to the very moment of the transition of a human being from the category of the living to the category of the dead. Also, the presence of some otherworldly forces at this event is quite understandable, serving as guides, saviors or destroyers of a liberated soul. One of these entities is the Kera - demonic creatures of ancient Greek mythology.
Mention of these ominous creatures is found in several documents that have survived to this day; in particular, in such famous poems as The Iliad and The Odyssey. According to the authors of these works, the Keres are ugly winged monsters that bring death and misfortune. A similar description is found in "Argonautics", the work of the ancient Greek poet Apollonius of Rhodes, who lived around the middle of the two hundred years BC. Apparently, the authors of these works have adopted only the basic characteristics of these demonic creatures, supplementing them with their own imagination.
Initially, the Keri, in the minds of the ancient Greeks, personified fate, fate, perhaps, served as a constant reminder of the inevitability of the end of all that exists. The souls of the dead turned into ker, becoming ferocious demons, bringing people suffering, illness and, in the end, death. It is characteristic that the Keras are exclusively female creatures, girls with black wings behind their backs. It remains not entirely clear whose souls such a fate awaited; it is logical to assume that the souls of those people who led a not very righteous, according to the concepts of that time, lifestyle became ceramics. At the moment of a person's death, the Keres rushed to him and stole his soul. What happened to her afterwards remains unknown; There is a version that in this way the Keri sought to replenish their ranks, turning a similar essence in themselves. It is also possible that the spirit of the deceased was sent,thanks to the efforts of the demons, straight to the kingdom of the dark god Hades.
In later times, the ker began to be considered the brainchild of the goddess of night darkness Nikta and the god Erebus, the lord of eternal darkness. In this regard, their appearance has also changed - the Keras have turned into more terrible creatures, with black hands and blood-red lips. Their occupation has also changed a little - now the Keri began to hunt only for the souls of those who fell in battle, often starting fierce disputes among themselves over prey. In one of the poems that have survived to this day, the authorship of which has not been precisely established, there is a description of a quarrel between ceramics who flocked to the battlefield. According to the author, they looked like blood-stained monsters of a terrible appearance, emitting a piercing screech and drinking the blood of fallen soldiers.
Gradually, there was an identification of Ker and Erinyes, no less sinister characters in ancient Greek myths, goddesses of revenge and hatred. In addition, it is very rare, but the name of the goddess Kera is found, personifying death, violent death, war and other misfortunes. Apparently, this was one of the darkest and most frightening deities in the pantheon of the ancient Greeks. True, reliable data on the existence of such a figure among the numerous gods of Ancient Greece have not yet been found.