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Mar 22, 2021 · The Moirai, or Fates, were three goddesses of destiny in ancient Greek religion. Their duty was to preserve the natural order of life and death. To do this, the three sisters controlled the threads of a person’s life. Clotho spun it out at birth, Lachesis measured it, and Atropos cut it at the time of death.
- The Fates: A Quick Profile
- Relationship with Zeus
- The Fates in Particular Myths
- The Fates Sources
Their Name and their Names
The Fates were originally called Moirai in Ancient Greece. The word moira means “share” or “portion” of something, whether meal, land, or victory spoils (compare this with the English word “merit” from the Latin meritum, “a reward”). By extension, Moirai means “The Apportioners,” i.e., the ones who give to each his own (portion of life). The Moirai’s Roman counterpart were the Parcae, probably because the Romans confused the origin of their name, thinking it stems from pars which is the Latin...
Fates' Family
The Fates have at least three different genealogies, two of which go way back to Hesiod. In his “Theogony,” the poet first informs us that the Fates are the fatherless daughters of Nyx, the Night, only to later describe them as daughters of Zeus and Themis, and, thus sisters of the Horae, Eunomia, Dike, and Eirene. Both genealogies make sense: in the first case, the Moirai are linked through Nyx with Death, and in the second they are clearly associated with the unchanging order of things. At...
Fates' Functions · Portrayal and Symbolism
Consistently portrayed as three women spinners, each of the three Fates had a different task, revealed by her very name: Clotho spun the thread of life, Lachesis measured its allotted length, and Atropos cut it off with her shears. Sometimes, each of the Fates was assigned to a specific period of time: Atropos – the past, Clotho –the present, and Lachesis – the future. The representation of the Fates evolved through time, and it seems that it often depended on the medium through which they we...
Zeus Powerless: Sarpedon and Hector
It’s difficult to say whether Zeus had anything to say in the matters of the Fates, but, to the Ancient Greeks, it seems that even he wasn’t able to overrule their decrees. Thus, even though at one point during the Trojan War he is aware that his beloved son Sarpedon will die at the hands of Patroclus, Zeus can do nothing to save him. Just as well, before the duel between Hector and Achilles, the All-Powerful God merely weighs their destinies on his golden scales and learns the outcome, as op...
The Fates Helping Zeus: The Giants and Typhon
However, the Fates and Zeus seem to have an understanding between each other at all times, their friendship going way back to the Gigantomachy. During it, the Fates killed the Giants Agrius and Thoas, clubbing them to death with bronze cudgels. They helped Zeus even more when they tricked Typhoeusinto eating some power-weakening fruits, which they successfully persuaded him to do by convincing him to believe in the opposite.
The Fates do not appear that frequently in myths. True, they are usually portrayed attending the births of both mortalsand gods, but, all in all, they rarely need to intervene in anyway whatsoever. There are, however, two interesting exceptions.
Compare the Fates’ genealogies in Hesiod’s “Theogony” by reading the relevant excerpts here and here. As for the story of the Fates and Admetus, you can find it in Aeschylus’ “Eumenides” – here and here. See Also: Zeus, Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Moirai (/ ˈ m ɔɪ r aɪ,-r iː /) often known in English as the Fates—were the personifications of destiny. They were three sisters: Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis (the allotter), and Atropos (the inevitable, a metaphor for death).
May 31, 2022 · The three Fates of Greek mythology were Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, and each had a different role in weaving the fate of mankind. The First of the Fates: Clotho. The Three Fates, by Felice Giani, 1810-1820, via the Art Institute of Chicago. The Fates in ancient Greek were called the Moirai. This translates as “allotted portion” or “share.”
May 17, 2024 · Fate, in Greek and Roman mythology, any of three goddesses who determined human destinies, and in particular the span of a person’s life and his allotment of misery and suffering. Homer speaks of Fate (moira) in the singular as an impersonal power and sometimes makes its functions interchangeable.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Dec 16, 2022 · The Fates (also known as the Moirai in Greek mythology) are three sister goddesses responsible for assigning destinies to mortals at their birth, a human's lifespan, and the timing of their death. The golden thread they spin represents each individual's fate, and when the thread is broken, it signifies the end of a human's life.
Mar 26, 2018 · Three Fates. Alexander the Great and the Fates, 1667. Time and the Three Fates, painting. Fast Facts: Pronunciation: fay-tes. Origin: Greek Mythology. Role: Goddesses of Destiny, Past, Future, Birth, Death. Also known as: Moiari, The Three Sisters. Individual Names (Greek Mythology): Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos.
