Ruling on the busted buyout of United Rentals by Cerberus, chancellor William Chandler III of Delaware’s Court of Chancery really shows off what an education in liberal arts can do. 

“In classical mythology, it took a demigod to subdue Cerberus, the beastly three-headed dog that guarded the gates of the underworld. In his twelfth and final labor, Heracles journeyed to Hades to battle, tame, and capture the monstrous creature,” Chandler points out in the ruling.

“In this case, plaintiff United Rentals, Inc. journeyed to Delaware to conquer a more modern obstacle that, rather than guards the gates to the afterlife, stands in the way of the consummation of a merger,” he continues.

Chandler, who majored in political science at the University of Delaware, also notes that in Hesiod’s Theogony, “Cerberus is characterized as a relentless, fifty-headed, flesh-eating, brazen-voiced hound.” Here’s hoping he rules next on Apollo.

(Image credit: Hercules and Cerberus; UVM)