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{{Short description|Personifications of fate in Greek mythology}}
{{About|the personifications of fate in Greek mythology|the video game|Moirai (video game)}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox deity
| name = Moirai
| type = greek
| deity_of = Personifications of the fates
| parents = [[Nyx]]<br/>[[Zeus]] and [[Themis]]<br/>[[Ananke]]
| siblings = 
| symbol = Thread, dove, spindle, scissors
| other_names = [[Clotho]]<br/>[[Lachesis]]<br/>[[Atropos]]
| image = Paphos Haus des Theseus - Mosaik Achilles 3 Moiren.jpg
| caption = Late second-century Greek mosaic from the [[Paphos Archaeological Park#House of Theseus|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]]
}}
{{Ancient Greek religion}}
{{Greek deities (personifications)}}

In [[ancient Greek religion]] and [[Greek mythology|mythology]], the '''Moirai''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɔɪ|r|aɪ|,_|-|r|iː}}){{Emdash}}often known in English as the [[Fates]]{{Emdash}}were the [[personification]]s of [[fate|destiny]]. In certain accounts, they were considered as three sisters: [[Clotho]] (the spinner), [[Lachesis (mythology)|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 mythology|Roman]] equivalent is the [[Parcae]].<ref>''Brill's New Pauly'', s.v. Parcae.</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Theoi project: Moirae and the Throne of Zeus |url=http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Moirai.html#Zeus |access-date=24 January 2013 |publisher=Theoi.com}}</ref>

The concept of a universal principle of natural order and balance has been compared to similar concepts in other cultures such as the [[Vedic]] [[Ṛta]], the [[Avesta]]n [[Asha]] (Arta), and the [[Ancient Egyptian religion|Egyptian]] [[Maat]].

==Etymology==
[[File:Rundscheibe Drei Parzen KGM AE470.jpg|thumb|''The Three Fates'', [[Tondo (art)|tondo]] by [[Hans Vischer]], c. 1530 ([[Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin]])]]

The word Moirai, also spelled '''Moirae''' or '''Mœræ''',<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-26 |title=Moirai {{!}} Definition of Moirai in English by Oxford Dictionaries |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/moirai |access-date=2024-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326064159/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/moirai |archive-date=26 March 2018 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/moirai Moirai] in [[Collins English Dictionary]]</ref> comes from {{langx|grc|μοῖρα}}, which means "lots, destinies, apportioners". It also means a portion or lot of the whole. It is related to ''meros'', "part, lot" and ''moros'', "fate, doom".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Moira {{!}} Etymology of the name Moira by etymonline |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/Moira |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=www.etymonline.com |language=en}}</ref> The possible derived [[Latin]] ''meritum'', "reward", [[English language|English]] ''merit'', maybe coming from the [[PIE|Proto-Indo-European language]] root ''*(s)mer'', "to allot, assign".<ref>{{Cite web |title=merit {{!}} Etymology of merit by etymonline |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/merit |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=www.etymonline.com |language=en}}</ref>

In addition'', Moira'' may mean

* portion or share in the distribution of booty ({{Lang|grc|ίση μοῖρα}}, {{Lang|grc-Latn|ísē moîra}}, "equal booty"),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, μοῖρα |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=moi=ra |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu |at=Iliad 9.318}}</ref>
* portion in life, lot, destiny, ({{Lang|grc|μοῖραv ἔθηκαν ἀθάνατοι}}, {{Lang|grc-Latn|moîran éthēken athánatoi}}, "the immortals fixed the destiny"),<ref>''[[Odyssey]]'' 19.152: Lidell, op.cit.</ref>
* death ({{Lang|grc|μοῖρα θανάτοιο}}, {{Lang|grc-Latn|moîra thanátoio}}, "destiny of death"), 
* portion of the distributed land.<ref>The citizens of [[Sparta]] were called ''omoioi'' (equals), indicating that they had equal parts ("isomoiria" ἰσομοιρία) of the allotted land</ref> 
* mete and right ({{Lang|grc|κατὰ μοῖραν}}, {{Lang|grc-Latn|kata moîran}}, "according to fate, in order, rightly").<ref>[[Iliad]] 16.367: Lidell, op.cit.</ref>

==Cross-cultural parallels==
===European goddesses===
[[File:Nornorna spinner ödets trådar vid Yggdrasil.jpg|thumb|The [[Norns]] spin the threads of [[Destiny|fate]] at the foot of [[Yggdrasil]], the tree of the world.]]

The three Moirai are known in English as the [[Fates]]. This derives from [[Roman mythology]], in which they are the [[Parcae|Parcae or Fata]], plural of {{langx|la|fatum|Fata, -orum (n)=}},<ref>''Online Etymology Dictionary'', s.v. [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=fate "fate"], [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=fairy "fairy"].</ref> meaning prophetic declaration, oracle, or destiny; euphemistically, the "sparing ones". There are other equivalents that descend from the [[Proto-Indo-European mythology#Societal deities|Proto-Indo-European culture]].

In Norse mythology the [[Norns]] are a trio of female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men, twining the thread of life. They set up the laws and decided on the lives of the children of men.<ref>''[[Völuspá]]'' 20; cf. [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]]' translation for [[The American-Scandinavian Foundation]] with clickable names ([http://cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/PoeticEdda/Voluspo.htm online text]). {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070718115311/http://cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/PoeticEdda/Voluspo.htm |date=18 July 2007 }}</ref>

Their names were [[Urðr]], related with Old English ''[[wyrd]]'', modern ''weird'' ("fate, destiny, luck"), [[Verðandi]], and [[Skuld]], and it has often been concluded that they ruled over the past, present and future respectively, based on the sequence and partly the etymology of the names, of which the first two (literally 'Fate' and 'Becoming') are derived from the past and present stems of the verb ''verða'', "to be", respectively,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hellquist |first=Elof |date=1922 |title=Svensk etymologisk ordbok |url=https://runeberg.org/svetym/ |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=runeberg.org |language=sv}}</ref> and the name of the third one means "debt" or "guilt", originally "that which must happen".<ref>'' Online Etymology Dictionary'', s. v. [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=shall "shall"].</ref> In younger legendary sagas, the Norns appear to have been synonymous with witches (''[[völva]]s''), and they arrive at the birth of the hero to shape his destiny.<ref>''Nordisk familjebook'' (1913). Uggleupplagan. 19. Mykenai-Newpada. ([https://runeberg.org/nfbs/0792.html online text]).</ref>

Many other cultures included trios of goddesses associated with fate or destiny. The [[Celtic polytheism|Celtic]] [[Matres]] and [[Matrones]], female deities almost always depicted in groups of three, have been proposed as connected to the Norns.<ref>{{cite book|first=John|last=Landow|title=Norse Mythology, a guide to the ghosts, heroes, rituals and beliefs|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford, England|date=2001|isbn=0-19-515382-0}}</ref>

In [[Lithuanian mythology|Lithuanian]] and other [[Baltic mythology|Baltic mythologies]], the goddess [[Laima]] is the personification of destiny, and her most important duty was to prophesy how the life of a newborn will take place.<ref>Greimas Algirdas Julien (1992). ''Of gods and men. Studies in Lithuanian Mythology''. Indiana University Press, p. 111. {{ISBN|0-253-32652-4}}.</ref><ref>Related to "Iaksmlka", "mark, sign or token" ([[Rigveda]] X, 71,2): Monier Williams. ''Sanskrit-English Dictionary''.</ref> With her sisters Kārta and Dēkla, she is part of a trinity of fate deities similar to the Moirai.<ref>Bojtar Endre (1999). ''Foreword to the past. A cultural history of Baltic people''. CEU Press, p. 301. {{ISBN|963-9116-42-4}}.</ref> In [[Hurrian mythology|Hurran mythology]] the three goddesses of fate, the ''[[Hutena]]'', were believed to dispense good and evil, life and death to humans.

=== Later European culture ===
In [[Dante]]'s ''[[Divine Comedy]]'', the Fates are mentioned in both ''[[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]]'' (XXXIII.126) and ''[[Purgatorio]]'' (XXI.25-27, XXV.79-81) by their Greek names, and their traditional role in measuring out and determining the length of human life is assumed by the narrator.

[[File:Macbeth and Banquo encountering the witches - Holinshed Chronicles.gif|alt=Two men on horseback meet three women. All are in Elizabethan dress.|thumb|[[Macbeth]] and Banquo meeting the three [[weird sisters]] in a woodcut from ''Holinshed's Chronicles''.]]

In [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Macbeth]]'', the [[Weird Sisters]] (or [[Three Witches]]) are [[prophet]]esses who are deeply rooted in both the real and supernatural worlds. Their creation was influenced by [[United Kingdom|British]] folklore, [[witchcraft]], and the legends of the Norns and the Moirai.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Karin S.|last=Coddon|title='Unreal Mockery': Unreason and the Problem of Spectacle in Macbeth|journal=[[ELH]]|publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]]|date=Oct 1989|volume=56|issue=3|pages=485–501|doi=10.2307/2873194| jstor=2873194 }}</ref> [[Hecate]], the [[chthonic]] [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] goddess associated with magic, witchcraft, [[necromancy]], and three-way crossroads,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Hekate.html |title=Theoi project Hecate |publisher=Theoi.com |access-date=24 January 2013}}</ref> appears as the master of the Three Witches. In [[ancient Greek religion]], Hecate as goddess of childbirth is identified with [[Artemis]],<ref>William Arthur Heidel (1929). ''The Day of Yahweh: A Study of Sacred Days and Ritual Forms in the Ancient Near East'', p. 514. American Historical Association.</ref> who was the leader (ηγεμόνη: ''hegemone'' ) of the [[nymphs]].<ref>Martin Nilsson (1967). ''Die Geschichte der griechischen Religion''. Vol. 1. C. F. Beck, Munich, p. 499 f.</ref>

===Outside Europe===
[[File:The Weighing of the Heart.svg|thumb|A section of the Egyptian ''[[Book of the Dead]]'' showing the "Weighing of the Heart" in the [[Duat]] using the feather of [[Maat]] as the measure in balance.]]

The notion of a universal principle of natural order has been compared to similar ideas in other cultures, such as [[Asha|aša]] ([[Asha]]) in [[Avestan language|Avestan]] religion, [[Rta]] in [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic religion]], and [[Maat]] in [[ancient Egyptian religion]].<ref>Cf. Ramakrishna (1965:153–168), James (1969:35–36)</ref>

In the [[Avestan language|Avestan]] religion and [[Zoroastrianism]], aša, is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of "truth", "righteousness", "order". Aša and its [[Vedic]] equivalent, Rta, are both derived from a [[PIE]] root meaning "properly joined, right, true". The word is the proper name of the divinity Asha, the personification of "Truth" and "Righteousness". ''Aša'' corresponds to an objective, material reality which embraces all of existence.<ref>{{citation|doi=10.1086/462470|last=Duchesne-Guillemin|first=Jacques|title=Heraclitus and Iran|journal=History of Religions|volume=3|issue=1|year=<!--(Summer,-->1963|pages=34–49| s2cid=62860085 }}</ref> This cosmic force is imbued also with morality, as verbal Truth, and Righteousness, action conforming with the moral order.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Mary|last=Boyce|title=Zoroaster the Priest|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies|publisher=University of London|location=London, England|volume=33|issue=1<!-- In Honour of Sir Harold Bailey-->|date=1970|pages=22–38|doi=10.1017/S0041977X00145100| s2cid=170473160 }}</ref>

In the literature of the [[Mandaeans]], an angelic being ([[Abatur]]) has the responsibility of weighing the souls of the deceased to determine their worthiness, using a set of scales.<ref>{{cite book|first=Matthew|last=Bunson|title=Angels A to Z|publisher=Crown Publishing|location=New York City|date=1996|isbn=978-0517885376|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/angelstozwhoswho00buns}}</ref>

In the Vedic religion, Rta is an ontological principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe. The term is now interpreted abstractly as "cosmic order", or simply as "truth",<ref>Mahony (1998:3).</ref> although it was never abstract at the time.<ref>See the philological work of Own Barfield, e.g Poetic Diction or Speaker's Meaning</ref>

It seems that this idea originally arose in the [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] period, from a consideration (so denoted to indicate the original meaning of communing with the star beings) of the qualities of nature which either remain constant or which occur on a regular basis.<ref name="Oldenberg1894">[[Hermann Oldenberg]] (1894). ''Die Religion des Veda''. Wilhelm Hertz, Berlin, pp. 30, 195–198.</ref>

The individuals fulfill their true natures when they follow the path set for them by the ordinances of ''Rta'', acting according to the [[Dharma]], which is related to social and moral spheres.<ref name=Brown373>Brown, W. N. (1992). "Some Ethical Concepts for the Modern World from Hindu and Indian Buddhist Tradition" in: Radhakrishnan, S. (Ed.) ''Rabindranath Tagore: A Centenary Volume 1861 – 1961''. Calcutta: Sahitya Akademi. {{ISBN|81-7201-332-9}}.</ref> The god of the waters [[Varuna]] was probably originally conceived as the personalized aspect of the otherwise impersonal ''Ṛta''.<ref>Ramakrishna, G. (1965). "Origin and Growth of the Concept of ''Ṛta'' in Vedic Literature". Doctoral Dissertation: University of Mysore Cf.</ref> The gods are never portrayed as having command over ''Ṛta'', but instead they remain subject to it like all created beings.<ref name=Brown373/>

In Egyptian religion, maat was the [[ancient Egypt]]ian concept of [[truth]], balance, order, [[law]], [[morality]], and [[justice]]. The word is the proper name of the divinity Maat, who was the goddess of harmony, justice, and truth represented as a young woman.

It was considered that she set the order of the universe from [[Chaos (cosmogony)|chaos]] at the moment of creation.<ref>Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt, Robert A. Armour, American Univ in Cairo Press, p167, 2001, {{ISBN|977-424-669-1}}</ref> Maat was the norm and basic values that formed the backdrop for the application of justice that had to be carried out in the spirit of truth and fairness.<ref>{{cite book|first=Siegfried|last=Morenz|title=Egyptian Religion|translator-first=Ann E.|translator-last=Keep|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, New York|date=1992|isbn=0-8014-8029-9|pages=117–125}}</ref>

In [[Egyptian mythology]], Maat dealt with the weighing of souls that took place in the underworld. Her feather was the measure that determined whether the souls (considered to reside in the heart) of the departed would reach the paradise of afterlife successfully. In the famous scene of the [[Culture of Egypt|Egypt]]ian ''[[Book of the Dead]]'', [[Anubis]], using a scale, weighs the sins of a man's heart against the feather of truth, which represents maat. If man's heart weighs down, then he is devoured by a monster.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=John H.|editor-last=Taylor|title=Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: Journey through the afterlife|publisher=British Museum Press|location=London, England|date=2010|isbn=978-0-7141-1989-2|pages=209, 215}}</ref>

==The three Moirai==
[[File:The Three Fates by Paul Thumann.jpg|thumb|''The Three Fates'' by [[Paul Thumann]], 19th century]]

When they were three,<ref>The expectation that there would be three was strong by the 2nd century CE: when Pausanias visited the temple of Apollo at Delphi, with Apollo and Zeus each accompanied by a Fate, he remarked "There are also images of two Moirai; but in place of the third Moira there stand by their side Zeus Moiragetes and Apollon Moiragetes."</ref> the Moirai were:
* '''[[Clotho]]''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|l|oʊ|θ|oʊ}}, Greek {{lang|grc|Κλωθώ}}, {{IPA|grc|klɔːtʰɔ̌ː|}}, "spinner") spun the thread of life from her [[distaff]] onto her [[Spindle (textiles)|spindle]]. Her Roman equivalent was ''[[Nona (mythology)|Nona]]'' ("the ninth"), who was originally a goddess called upon in the ninth month of [[pregnancy]].
* '''[[Lachesis (mythology)|Lachesis]]''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|æ|k|ᵻ|s|ɪ|s}}, Greek {{lang|grc|Λάχεσις}}, {{IPA|grc|lákʰesis|}}, "allotter" or drawer of lots) measured the thread of life allotted to each person with her [[measuring rod]]. Her Roman equivalent was ''[[Decima (mythology)|Decima]]'' ("the tenth").
* '''[[Atropos]]''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|t|r|ə|p|ɒ|s}}, Greek {{lang|grc|Ἄτροπος}}, {{IPA|grc|átropos|}}, "inexorable" or "inevitable", literally "unturning",<ref>Compare the ancient goddess [[Adrasteia]], the "inescapable".</ref> was the cutter of the thread of life. She chose the manner of each person's death; and when their time has come, she cut their life-thread with her "abhorred [[Scissors|shears]]".<ref>"Comes the blind Fury with th'abhorred shears, / And slits the thin spun life." [[John Milton]], [[Lycidas]], l. 75. {{wikisource-inline|Lycidas}}</ref> Her Roman equivalent was ''[[Morta (mythology)|Morta]]'' ("the dead one").

In the ''[[The Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'' of [[Plato]], the three Moirai sing in unison with the music of the [[Siren (mythology)|Seirenes]]. [[Lachesis (mythology)|Lachesis]] sings the things that were, [[Clotho]] the things that are, and [[Atropos]] the things that are to be.<ref>{{cite book|author=Plato|author-link=Plato|title=Republic|url=https://archive.org/details/republic0000plat_n1d0|url-access=registration|publisher=Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.|location=Indianapolis, Indiana|edition= Second|date= 1992 |page=617c|translator=Sorrey|isbn=978-0872201361}}</ref> [[Pindar]] in his ''Hymn to the Fates'', holds them in high honour. He calls them to send their sisters, the [[Hours (mythology)|Hours]]: [[Eunomia (goddess)|Eunomia]] ("lawfulness"), [[Dike (mythology)|Dike]] ("right"), and [[Eirene (Greek goddess)|Eirene]] ("peace"), to stop the internal civil strife.<ref>[[Pindar]], '' Fragmenta Chorica Adespota'' 5 (ed. Diehl).</ref>

==Origins==
[[File:The Triumph of Death, or The Three Fates.jpg|thumb|''The three Moirai, or the Triumph of death'', Flemish [[tapestry]], c. 1520 ([[Victoria and Albert Museum]], London)]]

The figure who came to be known as Atropos had her origins in the pre-Greek [[Mycenean Greece|Mycenaean]] religion as a [[Daemon (classical mythology)|daemon]] or spirit called Aisa.<ref name="Ilias7.52">"Not yet is thy fate (moira) to die and meet thy doom" ([[Iliad|Ilias]] 7.52), "But thereafter he (Achilleus) shall suffer whatever Fate (Aisa) spun for him at his birth, when his mother bore him": ([[Iliad|Ilias]] 20.128 ): [[Martin P. Nilsson|M. Nilsson]]. (1967). ''Die Geschichte der Griechischen Religion'' Vol I, C.F.Beck Verlag., Műnchen pp. 363–364</ref> Much of the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] religion survived into [[classical Greece]], but it is not known to what extent classical religious belief is Mycenaean, nor how much is a product of the [[Greek Dark Ages]] or later. [[Moses I. Finley]] detected only few authentic Mycenaean beliefs in the 8th-century [[Homeric]] world.<ref>[[Moses I. Finley|M. I. Finley]] (2002). ''The world of Odysseus''. New York Review Books, New York, p. 39 f. ([https://delong.typepad.com/finleyodysseus.pdf PDF file]).</ref> One such belief was the attribution of unexpected events to spirits or daemons, who appeared in special occurrences. [[Martin P. Nilsson]] associated these daemons to a hypothetical Pre-Greek religion.<ref name="Nilsson361">[[Martin P. Nilsson]] (1967). ''Die Geschichte der griechischen Religion.'' Vol. 1. C. F. Beck, Munich, pp. 361–368.</ref>

Another important Mycenaean philosophy stressed the subjugation of all events or actions to [[destiny]] and the acceptance of the inevitability of the natural order of things; today this is known as [[fatalism]].<ref name="Nilsson361" />

The concept of ''moira'' referred to one's fair allotment or portion, originally one's portion of loot from battle, which was distributed according to strict traditions. The idea eventually began to be applied to one's fair allotment in life. Obtaining more than one's fair portion (ὑπὲρ μοῖραν "over the portion") of loot, or of life in general was possible, but would result in severe consequences because this was considered a violation in the natural order of things. For example, in a passage in the ''[[Iliad]]'', [[Apollo]] tries three times to stop [[Patroclus]] from sacking [[Troy]], warning him that it would be "over his portion".<ref>''[[Iliad]]'' 16.705: "Draw back noble Patrolos, it is not your lot (aisa) to sack the city of the Trojan chieftains, nor yet it will be that of Achilleus, who is far better than you are": C. Castoriades (2004). ''Ce qui fait la Grèce. 1, D'Homère a Héraclite. Séminaires 1982–1983'' (= ''La creation humaine'', 2). Éditions du Seuil, Paris, p. 300.</ref>

In particular, the most important parts of the natural order were birth and death. Eventually, the concept of one's destined portion in life began to be personified as a spirit or daemon, referred to as ''Aisa'' or ''Moira'', who would determine the appropriate time for one's death at the moment of their birth.<ref name=Ilias7.52/><ref name="Nilsson361" /> In this sense, ''Moira'' is a power that governs even the gods.

In another passage of the ''Iliad'', [[Zeus]] knows that his cherished son [[Sarpedon (Trojan War hero)|Sarpedon]] will be killed by Patroclus, but Zeus cannot prevent his fate.<ref>''[[Iliad]]'' 16.433: "Ah, woe is me, for that it is fated that Sarpedon, dearest of men to me, be slain by Patroclus, son of Menoetius! And in twofold wise is my heart divided in counsel as I ponder in my thought whether I shall snatch him up while yet he liveth and set him afar from the tearful war in the rich land of Lycia, or whether I shall slay him now beneath the hands of the son of Menoetius."</ref> In a later scene known as the [[Weighing of souls|''kerostasia'']], Zeus appears as the arbiter of destiny, using a pair of scales to weigh [[Hector]]'s destiny and determining that he is fated to die.<ref>{{cite journal |first=J. V. |last=Morrison |title=Kerostasia, the Dictates of Fate, and the Will of Zeus in the Iliad |journal=Arethusa |volume=30 |issue=2 |year=1997 |pages=276–296 |doi=10.1353/are.1997.0008 |s2cid=162253423 }}</ref>

The elevation of Moira to a goddess who determines the course of events appears in the newer parts of the epos. In the ''[[Odyssey]]'', she is accompanied by the "Spinners", the personifications of Fate, who do not yet have separate names.<ref name="Oddysey7.198">"But thereafter he shall suffer whatever Fate (Aisa) and the dread Spinners spun with her thread for him at his birth, when his mother bore him." (''[[Odyssey]]'' 7.198)</ref>

In his writing, the poet [[Hesiod]] introduces a moral purpose to the Moirai which is absent in the Homeric poems. In his conception, the Moirai punish not only men but also gods for their sins.<ref name="Hesiod221">[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' 221–225. "Also Night ([[Nyx]]) bare the destinies (Moirai), and ruthless avenging Fates ([[Keres (mythology)|Keres]]), who give men at their birth both evil and good to have, and they pursue the transgressions of men and gods... until they punish the sinner with a sore penalty." [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm online ''The Theogony of Hesiod. Transl. Hugh Evelyn White'' (1914) 221–225].</ref>

==Mythical relationships==
[[File:William Blake 006.jpg|thumb|''[[The Night of Enitharmon's Joy]]'', showing [[Hekate]] and the Moirai, by [[William Blake]], 1795 ([[Tate Gallery]], London)]]

In the ''[[Theogony]]'', [[Hesiod]] describes the Moirai as daughters of the primeval goddess [[Nyx (mythology)|Nyx]] ("night"), and sisters of the [[Keres (mythology)|Keres]] ("the black fates"), [[Thanatos]] ("death"), and [[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemesis]] ("retribution").<ref name=Hesiod221/> Later in the poem, Hesiod instead calls them daughters of Zeus and the [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]]ess [[Themis]] ("the Institutor"),<ref name=Theogony901>''[[Theogony]]'' 901; ''The Theogony of Hesiod.'' Translated by Hugh Evelyn White (1914), 901–906 ([http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm online text]).</ref> who was the embodiment of divine order and law,<ref name=Finley78>M. I. Finley (1978) ''The world of Odysseus'' rev.ed. New York Viking Press p.78 Note.</ref><ref name=Jeffery42>In the ''[[Odyssey]]'', ''Themistes'': "dooms, things laid down originally by divine authority", the ''themistes'' of [[Zeus]]. Body: council of elders who stored in the collective memory. ''Thesmos'': unwritten law, based on precedent. Cf. L. H. Jeffery (1976). ''Archaic Greece. The City-States c. 700–500 BC.'' Ernest Benn Ltd., London & Tonbridge, p. 42. {{ISBN|0-510-03271-0}}.</ref> placing them as sisters of [[Eunomia (goddess)|Eunomia]] ("lawfulness, order"), Dike ("justice"), and Eirene ("peace").<ref name =Theogony901/>

In the cosmogony of [[Alcman]] (7th century BC), first came Thetis ("disposer, creation"), and then simultaneously [[Greek primordial deities|Poros]] ("path") and [[Greek primordial deities|Tekmor]] ("end post, ordinance").<ref>Τέκμωρ (Τekmor): fixed mark or boundary, end post, purpose ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dte%2Fkmar τέκμαρ]).</ref><ref>Old English: ''takn'' "sign, mark"; English: ''token'' "sign, omen". Compare Sanskrit, [[Laksmi]]. [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=token Entry "token"], in ''Online Etymology Dictionary''.</ref> Poros is related with the beginning of all things, and Tekmor is related with the end of all things.<ref>Alcman, frag. 5 (from Scholia), translated by Campbell, Greek Lyric, vol. 2; cf. [http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Ananke.html entry "Ananke"] in the ''Theoi Project''.</ref>

Later in the [[Orphic]] cosmogony, first came Thesis, whose ineffable nature is unexpressed. [[Ananke]] ("necessity") is the primeval goddess of inevitability who is entwined with the time-god [[Chronos]], at the very beginning of time. They represented the cosmic forces of Fate and Time, and they were called sometimes to control the fates of the gods. The three Moirai are daughters of Ananke.<ref>''Orphica. Theogonies'', frag. 54 (from Damascius). ''Greek hymns 3rd to 2nd centuries BC''; cf. [http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Ananke.html entry "Ananke"] in the ''Theoi Project''.</ref>

==Mythology==
[[File:Sarcophagus Prometheus Louvre Ma339.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Prometheus]] creates man: [[Clotho]] and [[Lachesis (mythology)|Lachesis]] besides [[Poseidon]] (with his trident), and presumably [[Atropos]] besides [[Artemis]] (with the moon crescent) are seen, [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[sarcophagus]] ([[Louvre]]).]]

The Moirai were three sisters: [[Clotho]] (the spinner), [[Lachesis (mythology)|Lachesis]] (the allotter), and [[Atropos]] (the inevitable, a metaphor for death). But according to a Latin verse,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Princeton Dante Project (2.0) - Long Toynbee "Cloto" |url=https://dante.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/dante/DispToynbeeByTitOrId.pl?INP_ID=241795 |at=Clotho colum retinet, Lachesis net, et Atropos occat}}</ref> their roles and functions were somewhat different: "Clotho, the youngest of the sisters, presided over the moment in which we are born, and held a distaff in her hand; Lachesis spun out all the events and actions of our life; and Atropos, the eldest of the three, cut the thread of human life with a pair of scissors."<ref>{{cite web |title=Parcae from the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia |url=https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/P/parcae.html}}</ref>

In the [[Homer]]ic poems Moira or Aisa are related to the limit and end of life, and Zeus appears as the guider of destiny. In the ''[[Theogony]]'' of [[Hesiod]], the three Moirai are personified, daughters of [[Nyx]] and are acting over the gods.<ref name="Hesiod221" /> Later they are daughters of Zeus and [[Themis]], who was the embodiment of divine order and law. In [[Plato|Plato's]] ''[[The Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'' the Three Fates are daughters of [[Ananke]] (necessity).<ref>''Plato, Republic 617c (trans. Shorey) (Greek philosopher 4th century BC)'': [http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Ananke.html Theoi Project – Ananke].</ref>

The Moirai were supposed to appear three nights after a child's birth to determine the course of its life, as in the story of [[Meleager]] and the firebrand taken from the hearth and preserved by his mother to extend his life.<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, story of Meleager in ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheke]]'' 1.65.</ref> Bruce Karl Braswell from readings in the [[Hesychius of Alexandria|lexicon of Hesychius]], associates the appearance of the Moirai at the family ''hearth'' on the ''seventh'' day with the ancient Greek custom of waiting seven days after birth to decide whether to accept the infant into the Gens and to give it a name, cemented with a ritual at the hearth.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Braswell |first=Bruce Karl |title=Meleager and the Moirai: A Note on Ps.-Apollodorus 1. 65 |journal=Hermes |volume=119 |issue=4 |year=1991 |pages=488–489 |jstor=4476850 }}</ref> At [[Sparta]] the temple to the Moirai stood near the communal hearth of the ''[[polis]]'', as [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] observed.<ref>Pausanias, 3.11. 10–11.</ref>

As goddesses of birth who even prophesied the fate of the newly born, [[Eileithyia]], the ancient [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] goddess of childbirth and divine midwifery, was their companion. Pausanias mentions an ancient role of Eileythia as "the clever spinner", relating her with destiny too.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+8.21.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160 8.21.3].</ref> Their appearance indicate the Greek desire for health which was connected with the Greek cult of the body that was essentially a religious activity.<ref>[[Pindar]], ''Nemean'' VII 1–4</ref>

The [[Erinyes]], a group of [[chthonic]] goddesses of vengeance, served as tools of the Moirai, inflicting punishment for evil deeds, particularly upon those who sought to avoid their rightful destiny. At times, the Moirai were conflated with the Erinyes, as well as the death-goddesses the [[Keres]].<ref name=Theoi.Moirai>{{cite web|url=http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Moirai.html |title=Theoi Project Moirai |publisher=Theoi.com |access-date=24 January 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Clotho (Washington, DC).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Bas relief of [[Clotho]], lampstand at the Supreme Court of the United States, [[Washington, D.C.]]]]

In earlier times they were represented as only a few—perhaps only one—individual goddess. Homer's ''Iliad'' (xxiv.209) speaks generally of the Moira, who spins the thread of life for men at their birth; she is ''Moira Krataia'' "powerful Moira" (xvi.334) or there are several Moirai (xxiv.49). In the ''Odyssey'' (vii.197) there is a reference to the ''Klôthes'', or Spinners. At Delphi, only the Fates of Birth and Death were revered.<ref>Kerenyi 1951:32.</ref> In Athens, [[Aphrodite]], who had an earlier, pre-Olympic existence, was called ''[[Aphrodite Urania]]'' the "eldest of the Fates" according to Pausanias (x.24.4).

<!-- .There is not any reference for the Eteocretan text. 
A bilingual [[Eteocretan]] text<ref>The inscription, from the Delphinion in [[Dreros]], was published by Henri van Effenterre in ''Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique'' '''70''' (1946:602f); the original inscription has disappeared: [http://www.carolandray.plus.com/Eteocretan/Dreros2.html on-line text.]</ref> has the Greek translation "Ομοσαι δαπερ Ενορκίοισι" (''Omosai d-haper Enorkioisi'', "But may he swear [these] very things to the Oath-Keepers"). In [[Eteocretan]] this is rendered —<small>S|TUPRMĒRIĒIA</small>, in which <small>MĒRIĒIA</small> may refer to the divinities the Hellenes knew as the Moirai.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}-->Some Greek mythographers went so far as to claim that the Moirai were the daughters of Zeus—paired with Themis ("fundament"), as [[Hesiod]] had it in one passage.<ref>Hesiod, ''Theogony'', 904.</ref> In the older myths they are daughters of primeval beings like Nyx ("night") in [[Theogony]], or Ananke in Orphic cosmogony. Whether or not providing a father even for the Moirai was a symptom of how far Greek mythographers were willing to go, in order to modify the old myths to suit the [[patrilineal]] Olympic order,<ref>"Zeus obviously had to assimilate this spinning Goddess, and he made them into his daughters, too, although not by all accounts, for even he was bound ultimately by Fate", observe Ruck and Staples (1994:57).</ref> the claim of a paternity was certainly not acceptable to [[Aeschylus]], [[Herodotus]], or Plato.

Despite their forbidding reputation, the Moirai could be placated as goddesses. Brides in [[Athens]] offered them locks of hair, and women swore by them. They may have originated as birth goddesses and only later acquired their reputation as the agents of destiny.

According to the mythographer [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], in the [[Gigantomachy]], the war between the Giants and Olympians, the Moirai killed the Giants [[Agrios]] and [[Thoon (mythology)|Thoon]] with their bronze clubs.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.6.1 1.6.1–2].</ref>

The Moirai were also credited to be inventors of seven Greek letters — A B H T I Y.<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#277 277]</ref>

==Zeus and the Moirai==
[[File:Lachesis (Washington, DC).jpg|thumb|upright|Bas relief of [[Lachesis (mythology)|Lachesis]], lampstand at the Supreme Court, [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
[[File:Atropos.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Bas relief]] of [[Atropos]] cutting the thread of life]]

In the Homeric poems Moira is represented as a singular entity whose actions are not governed by the gods. Only Zeus, the chief of the gods, is close to her, and in some cases acts in a similar role.<ref name=Nilsson361 /> Using a [[weighing scale]] Zeus weighs Hector's "lot of death" against that of Achilleus. Hector's lot weighs down, and he dies according to Fate. Zeus appears as the guider of destiny, who gives everyone the right portion.<ref name=Nilsson217>[[Iliad|Ilias]] X 209 ff. O.Crusius Rl, Harisson ''Prolegomena'' 5.43 ff: [[Martin P. Nilsson|M. Nillson]] (1967). ''Die Geschichte der Griechischen Religion. Vol I ''. C.F.Beck Verlag. München pp. 217, 222</ref><ref>This is similar to the famous scene in the [[Culture of Egypt|Egypt]]ian book of the dead, although the conception is different. [[Anubis]] weighs the sins of a man's heart against the feather of truth. If man's heart weighs down, then he is devoured by a monster: Taylor, John H. (Editor- 2009), ''Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: Journey through the afterlife''. British Museum Press, London, 2010. pp. 209, 215 {{ISBN|978-0-7141-1993-9}}
</ref> A similar scenario is depicted on a Mycenaean vase, where Zeus holds a scale in front of two warriors, indicating that he is measuring their destiny before the battle. The belief was that if they die in battle, this was to be accepted as their correct destiny.<ref>M.P.Nilsson, "Zeus-Schiksalwaage ". ''Homer and Mycenea '' D 56. The same belief in [[Destiny|Kismet]]. Also the soldiers in the World-War believed that they wouldn't die by a bullet, unless their name was written on the bullet: [[Martin P. Nilsson|M. Nillson]] (1967). ''Die Geschichte der Griechischen Religion. Vol I ''. C.F.Beck Verlag. München pp. 366, 367</ref>

In ''Theogony'', the three ''Moirai'' are daughters of the primeval goddess, Nyx ("Night"),<ref>[[H.J. Rose]], ''Handbook of Greek Mythology'', p.24</ref> representing a power acting over the gods.<ref name="Hesiod221" /> Later they are daughters of Zeus who gives them the greatest honour, and [[Themis]], the ancient goddess of law and divine order.<ref name="Finley78" /><ref name="Jeffery42" />

Even the gods feared the Moirai or Fates, which according to Herodotus a god could not escape.<ref>[[Herodotus]], 1.91</ref> The Pythian priestess at [[Delphi]] once admitted that Zeus was also subject to their power, though no recorded classical writing clarifies to what exact extent the lives of immortals were affected by the whims of the Fates. It is to be expected that the relationship of Zeus and the Moirai was not immutable over the centuries. In either case in antiquity we can see a feeling towards a notion of an order to which even the gods have to conform. [[Simonides]] names this power Ananke (necessity) (the mother of the ''Moirai'' in Orphic cosmogony) and says that even the gods don't fight against it.<ref>[[Diels–Kranz numbering|Diels-Kranz]]. Fr.420</ref> Aeschylus combines Fate and necessity in a scheme, and claims that even Zeus cannot alter which is ordained.<ref name="Prometh.515">[[Aeschylus]], ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'', 510–518: "Not in this way is Moira (Fate) who brings all to fulfillment, destined to complete this course. Skill is weaker far than Ananke (necessity). Yes in that even he (Zeus) cannot escape what is foretold." [http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Ananke.html Theoi Project – Ananke]</ref>

A supposed epithet ''Zeus Moiragetes'', meaning "Zeus Leader of the Moirai" was inferred by Pausanias from an inscription he saw in the 2nd century AD at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]]: "As you go to the starting-point for the chariot-race there is an altar with an inscription ''to the Bringer of Fate.'' This is plainly a surname of Zeus, who knows the affairs of men, all that the Fates give them, and all that is not destined for them."<ref>The Greek is ''Moiragetes'' (Pausanias, 5.15.5)</ref><ref name="Pausanias, 5.15.5">Pausanias, 5.15.5</ref> At the Temple of Zeus at [[Megara]], Pausanias inferred from the relief sculptures he saw "Above the head of Zeus are the [[Horae|Horai]] and Moirai, and all may see that he is the only god obeyed by Moira." Pausanias' inferred assertion is unsupported in [[cult (religion)|cult practice]], though he noted a sanctuary of the Moirai there at Olympia (5.15.4), and also at [[Corinth]] (2.4.7) and Sparta (3.11.8), and adjoining the sanctuary of Themis outside a city gate of [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]].<ref>"There is a sanctuary of [[Themis]], with an image of white marble; adjoining it is a sanctuary of the Fates, while the third is of Zeus of the Market. Zeus is made of stone; the Fates have no images." (Pausanias, 9.25.4)</ref>

==Cult and temples==
[[File:Schadow Grabmal Alexander 2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''The three Moirai'', relief, grave of {{Interlanguage link|Alexander von der Mark|de}} by [[Johann Gottfried Schadow]] ([[Alte Nationalgalerie|Old National Gallery]], [[Berlin]])]]

The fates had at least three known temples, in [[Ancient Corinth]], Sparta and [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]. At least the temple of Corinth contained statues of them: 
:"[On the Akropolis (Acropolis) of Korinthos (Corinth):] The temple of the Moirai (Moirae, Fates) and that of Demeter and Kore (Core) [Persephone] have images that are not exposed to view."<ref>Pausanias, 2.4.7</ref>

The temple in Thebes was explicitly imageless:
:"Along the road from the Neistan gate [at Thebes in Boiotia (Boeotia)] are three sanctuaries. There is a sanctuary of Themis, with an image of white marble; adjoining it is a sanctuary of the Moirai (Moirae, Fates), while the third is of Agoraios (Agoreus, of the Market) Zeus. Zeus is made of stone; the Moirai (Moirae, Fates) have no images."<ref>Pausanias, 9.25.4</ref>

The temple in Sparta was situated next to the grave of [[Orestes]].<ref>Pausanias, 3.11.10</ref>

Aside from actual temples, there was also altars to the Moirai. Among them was notably the altar in Olympia near the altar of Zeus Moiragetes,<ref name="Pausanias, 5.15.5"/> a connection to Zeus which was also repeated in the images of the Moirai in the temple of Despoine in Arkadia<ref>Pausanias, 8.37.1</ref> as well as in Delphi, where they were depicted with Zeus Moiragetes (Guide of Fate) as well as with Apollon Moiragetes (Guide of Fate).<ref>Pausanias, 10.24.4</ref> On Korkyra, the shrine of Apollo, which according to legend was founded by Medea was also a place where offerings were made to the Moirai and the nymphs.<ref>Apollonius Rhodius, ''Argonautica'' 4.1216 ff. (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.)</ref> The worship of the Moirai are described by Pausanias for their altar near Sicyon: 
:"On the direct road from Sikyon (Sicyon) to Phlios (Phlius) ... At a distance along it, in my opinion, of twenty stades, to the left on the other side of the Asopos [river], is a grove of holm oaks and a temple of the goddesses named by the Athenians the Semnai (August), and by the Sikyonians the Eumenides (Kindly Ones). On one day in each year they celebrate a festival to them and offer sheep big with young as a burnt offering, and they are accustomed to use a libation of honey and water, and flowers instead of garlands. They practise similar rites at the altar of the Moirai (Moirae, Fates); it is in an open space in the grove."<ref>Pausanias, 2.11.3-4</ref>

==Astronomical objects==
The [[asteroid]]s [[97 Klotho|(97) Klotho]], [[120 Lachesis|(120) Lachesis]], and [[273 Atropos|(273) Atropos]] are named for the Three Fates.

== See also ==
* [[Ananke]]
* [[Asha]]
* [[Deities and fairies of fate in Slavic mythology]]
* [[Fates]]
* [[Istustaya and Papaya]]
* [[Kallone]]
* [[Enchanted Moura]]
* [[Laima]]
* [[Matrones]]
* [[Norns]]
* [[Parcae]]
* [[Rta]]
* [[Trimurti]]/[[Tridevi]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Armour, Robert A, 2001, ''Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt'', American Univ. in Cairo Press, {{ISBN|977-424-669-1}}.
* ''[[Brill's New Pauly]]: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 10'', Obl-Phe, editors: Hubert Cancik, Helmuth Schneider, [[Brill Publishers|Brill]], 2007. {{ISBN|978-90-04-14215-2}}. [https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/brill-s-new-pauly Online version at Brill].
* ''Homer. The Iliad with an English translation''. A. T. Murray, Ph.D. (1924), in two volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd.
* ''Homer. The Odyssey with an English translation''. A. T. Murray, Ph.D. (1919), in two volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd.
* Thomas Blisniewski, 1992. ''Kinder der dunkelen Nacht: Die Ikonographie der Parzen vom späten Mittelalter bis zum späten 18. Jahrhundert''. (Cologne) Iconography of the Fates from the late Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century.
* Markos Giannoulis, 2010. ''Die Moiren. Tradition und Wandel des Motivs der Schicksalsgöttinnen in der antiken und byzantinischen Kunst, Ergänzungsband zu Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum, Kleine Reihe 6 (F. J. Dölger Institut)''. Aschendorff Verlag, Münster, {{ISBN|978-3-402-10913-7}}.
* [[Robert Graves]], ''Greek Myths''.
* [[Jane Ellen Harrison]], ''Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion'' 1903. Chapter VI, "The Maiden-Trinities".
* L. H. Jeffery, 1976. ''Archaic Greece. The City-States c. 700–500 BC ''. Ernest Benn Ltd. London & Tonbridge, {{ISBN|0-510-03271-0}}.
* [[Karl Kerenyi]], 1951. ''The Gods of the Greeks'' (Thames and Hudson).
* [[Martin P. Nilsson]],1967. ''Die Geschichte der Griechischen Religion. Vol I'', C.F. Beck Verlag., München.
* [[Bertrand Russell]], 1946. ''A history of Western Philosophy, and its connections with Political and Social Circumstances from the earliest times to the Present Day''. New York. Simon & Schuster p.&nbsp;148
* [[Harry Thurston Peck]], ''Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'', 1898. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0062 perseus.tufts.edu]
* Herbert Jennings Rose, ''Handbook of Greek Mythology'', 1928.
* [[Carl Ruck]] and [[Danny Staples]], ''The World of Classical Myth'', 1994.
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]], ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', 1870, article on Moira, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20051026221435/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2217.html ancientlibrary.com]}}
* R. G. Wunderlich (1994). ''The secret of Crete''. Efstathiadis group, Athens pp.&nbsp;290–291, 295–296. (British Edition, Souvenir Press Ltd. London 1975) {{ISBN|960-226-261-3}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-000287 The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of the Moirai)]
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm The Theogony of Hesiod.Transl.H.E.White (1914)]

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

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Time and fate goddesses]]
[[Category:Greek death goddesses]]
[[Category:Triple goddesses]]
[[Category:Daughters of Zeus]]
[[Category:Moirai| ]]
[[Category:Destiny]]
[[Category:Textiles in folklore]]
[[Category:Children of Nyx]]
[[Category:Crones and hags]]