Ananke

thumb|Ananke as represented by a modern illustration of Plato's Republic

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Ananke (; ), from the common noun ("force, constraint, necessity"), is a personification of inevitability, compulsion, and necessity, and is customarily depicted as holding a spindle. The births of Ananke and her brother and consort, Chronos (the personification of time, not to be confused with the Titan Cronus), were thought to mark the division between the eon of Chaos and the beginning of the cosmos. Ananke is considered the most powerful dictator of fate and circumstance. Mortals and gods alike respected her power and paid her homage. She is also considered the mother of the Fates, hence she is thought to be the only being to overrule their decisions (according to some sources, excepting Zeus also). According to Daniel Schowalter and Steven Friesen, she and the Fates "are all sufficiently tied to early Greek mythology to make their Greek origins likely".