Moirae
Sign in to saveIn ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Moirai ()often known in English as the Fateswere the personifications of destiny. In certain accounts, they were considered as three sisters: Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis (the allotter), and Atropos (the inevitable, a metaphor for death), though their number and names varied over time according to the author. Their Roman equivalent is the Parcae.
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The Moirai, known in English as the Fates, were goddesses in ancient Greek mythology who personified human destiny and were typically depicted as three sisters—Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos—each representing different aspects of fate from spinning life's thread to determining its length to bringing death. They matter as a central concept in ancient Greek religion and culture, reflecting how people understood the forces that controlled human lives and the inevitability of fate.
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Key facts
- Deity.name
- Moirai
- Deity.type
- greek
- Deity.deity_of
- Personifications of the fates
- Deity.parents
- NyxZeus and ThemisAnanke
- Deity.symbol
- Thread, dove, spindle, scissors
- Deity.other_names
- ClothoLachesisAtropos
- Deity.image
- Paphos Haus des Theseus - Mosaik Achilles 3 Moiren.jpg
- Deity.caption
- Late second-century Greek mosaic from the House of Theseus (at Paphos Archaeological Park, Cyprus), showing the three Moirai: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, standing behind Peleus and Thetis, the parents of Achilles
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
16 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Cross-cultural parallels
- European goddesses
- Later European culture
- Outside Europe
- The three Moirai
- Origins
- Mythical relationships
- Mythology
- Zeus and the Moirai
- Cult and temples
- Astronomical objects
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Moirai ()often known in English as the Fateswere the personifications of destiny. In certain accounts, they were considered as three sisters: Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis (the allotter), and Atropos (the inevitable, a metaphor for death), though their number and names varied over time according to the author. Their Roman equivalent is the Parcae.
The role of the Moirai was to ensure that every being, mortal and divine, lived out their destiny as it was assigned to them by the laws of the universe. For mortals, this destiny spanned their entire lives and was represented as a thread spun from a spindle. Generally, they were considered to be above even the gods in their role as enforcers of fate, although in some representations, Zeus, the chief of the gods, is able to command them.