View source for Atropos

{{Short description|One of the Fates of Greek mythology}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2016}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek

| name = Atropos
| father = [[Erebus]]
| mother = [[Themis]] or [[Nyx]]
| siblings = [[Lachesis]], [[Clotho]], various paternal half-siblings
| god_of = Goddess of Fate
| image = Atropos.jpg
|caption = [[Bas relief]] of Atropos cutting the thread of life.
| abode = [[Mount Olympus]]
| symbol = Scissors
}}
{{Ancient Greek religion}}

'''Atropos''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|t|r|ə|p|ɒ|s|,_|-|p|ə|s}};<ref>{{cite EPD|18}}</ref><ref>{{cite LPD|3}}</ref> {{langx|grc|Ἄτροπος}} "without turn"), in [[Greek mythology]], was the third of the [[Fates|Three Fates]] or [[Moirai]], goddesses of [[wikt:fate|fate]] and [[destiny]]. Her Roman equivalent was [[Morta (mythology)|Morta]].

Atropos was one of the Three Fates and was known as "the Inflexible One."<ref>Clement of Alexandria. The Exhortation to the Greeks. The Rich Man's Salvation. To the Newly Baptized. Translated by G. W. Butterworth. Loeb Classical Library 92. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1919, pg 52-53. 
</ref> It was Atropos who chose the manner of death and ended the life of mortals by cutting their threads.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|title=Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition|date=January 2000|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780787650155}}</ref> She worked along with her two sisters, [[Clotho]], who spun the thread, and [[Lachesis]], who measured the length. Atropos has been featured in several stories, such as those of [[Atalanta]]<ref>{{cite book | last =Baldwin | first =James| author-link =James Baldwin (editor and author) | title =Old Greek Stories | chapter = The Story of Atalanta | date =December 2005| publisher =American book Company| url = https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11582/11582-h/11582-h.htm | isbn = 978-1421932125 | chapter-url = https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11582/11582-h/11582-h.htm#THE_STORY_OF_ATALANTA}}</ref>  and [[Achilles]].

==Origin==
Her origin, along with the other two fates, is uncertain, although some called them the daughters of the night. It is clear, however, that at a certain period they ceased to be concerned only with death and also became those powers who decided what may happen to individuals. Although [[Zeus]] was the chief Greek god and their father, he was still subject to the decisions of the Fates, and thus the executor of destiny, rather than its source. According to [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]],'' Atropos and her sisters (Clotho and Lachesis) were the daughters of [[Erebus]] (Darkness) and [[Nyx (mythology)|Nyx]] (Night) and sisters to [[Thanatos]] and [[Hypnos]],  though later in the same work (ll. 901–906) they are said to have been of Zeus and [[Themis]].

== Dispute of origin ==
In the ancient Greek poem, ''[[Shield of Heracles|The Shield of Heracles]]'', Atropos is referred to as the oldest and smallest of the three fates. This description is uncommon among references to Atropos. It is uncommon in ancient mentions of her in more ways than one as it turns out, including this fate's moniker. Plato may be behind the creation of Atropos as many of the early descriptions of the fates have Aesa ({{langx|grc|Αἶσα}}) as the name of this third fate, although there is still no clear consensus. The inconsistent nature of these accounts make it difficult to know for sure whether or not Aesa or Atropos is the best name to use when talking about the third fate, but evidence seems to point to Aesa being the more commonly used name earlier on, with Atropos gaining popularity later.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Carpenter|first=Rhys|date=1925|title=The Fates of the Madrid Puteal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/497894|journal=American Journal of Archaeology|volume=29|issue=2|pages=117–134|doi=10.2307/497894|jstor=497894|issn=0002-9114|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Although later the order of birth of the [[Parcae]] changes, in ''[[Genealogia Deorum Gentilium]]'', the Italian Renaissance writer [[Giovanni Boccaccio]] wrote that [[Atropos]] was the youngest of the [[Moirai]]. [[Clotho]], [[Lachesis]] and Atropos, as previously mentioned in the section on the Dispute, were daughters of [[Demogorgon]]. [[Cicero]], however, calls them the Parcae in De Natura Deorum, where he states that they were daughters of [[Erebus]] and [[Night]]. It seems preferable, however, to follow [[Theodontius]], who affirms that they were created together with the nature of things. Elsewhere, where Cicero speaks of the Parca in the singular, he also calls her the daughter of Erebus and Night. [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], in his letters to [[Lucilius]], also calls them the Parcae, citing the saying of [[Cleanthes]]: “The Fates lead those who are willing and drag those who are unwilling.” In this, he describes not only their office that is, to guide all living beings but also to compel them, as if all things occurred by necessity. Atropos was the one who cut the thread of life, bringing each mortal’s destiny to its inevitable end.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boccaccio |first1=Giovanni |last2=Solomon |first2=Jon |title=Genealogy of the Pagan Gods. Volume 1: Books I–V |date=2011 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. London, England |isbn=9780674057104 |pages=166–167}}</ref>

==Namesake==
* [[Atropine]], a tropane alkaloid and anticholinergic medication
* ''[[273 Atropos]]'', a main-belt asteroid.
* The scientific name of a [[venomous snake]], ''[[Bitis atropos]]'', refers to Atropos.<ref>Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. ("Atropos", p. 12).</ref>
* The African Death's-head hawkmoth, ''[[Acherontia atropos]]'', also has a species name which references Atropos.
The genus of the deadly nightshade, ''[[Atropa belladonna]]'', was named after Atropos by [[Carolus Linnaeus]] because of the plant's poisonous properties.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{EB9 Poster|Atropos}}
* {{Commonscatinline}}
* {{wiktionary-inline|Atropos}}
* {{Wikisource-inline|Theogony}}
* {{wiktionary-inline|Atropos}}

{{Time in religion and mythology}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Moirai]]

[[id:Moirai#Atropos]]