The
Moirae or
Moerae (in
Greek Μοῖραι – the "
apportioners", often called the
The Fates), in
Greek mythology, were the white-robed personifications of
destiny (
Roman equivalent:
Parcae, euphemistically the "sparing ones", or
Fata; also equivalent to the
Germanic Norns). Their number became fixed at three. (source:
Parcae)
The MOERAE are the three sisters who decide on human fate: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropus. They sing in unison with the music of the SIRENS, or so it is said. Lachesis sings of the things that were, Clotho of those that are, and Atropus about the things that will be. They are most honored among the gods because they distribute justly, and have a share in every home. They give men at their birth their share of evil and good, and they punish the transgressions of both men and of gods. Atropus is said to be the eldest, the best and the shortest of the sisters; Clotho is the 'spinner', and Lachesis the apportioner of lots. It has also been claimed that Tyche (Fortune) was one of the MOERAE, and the most powerful of the sisters because beauty, virtue, and good Fame are in her keeping, and also because she finds pleasure in dashing immoderate hopes.(source: http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/MOERAE.html)
Zeus and the Moirae
Even the gods feared the Moirae.
Zeus also was subject to their power, the Pythian priestess at
Delphi once admitted.
Hesiod referred to "the Moirai to whom wise Zeus gave the greatest honour",
[1] though no classic writing clarifies as to what exact extent the lives of immortals were impacted by the whims of the Fates themselves, and it is to be expected that the relationship of Zeus and the Moirae was not immutable over the centuries.
A supposed epithet
Zeus Moiragetes, meaning "Zeus Leader of the Moirae" was inferred by
Pausanias from an inscription he saw in the second century AD at
Olympia: "As you go to the starting-point for the chariot-race there is an altar with an inscription
to the Bringer of Fate.[2] 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."
[3] At the Temple of Zeus at
Megara, Pausanias inferred from the relief sculptures he saw "Above the head of Zeus are the
Horai and Moirae, and all may see that he is the only god obeyed by Moira." Pausanias' inferred assertion is unsupported in
cult practice, though he noted a sanctuary of the Moirae there at
Olympia (v.15.4), and also at
Corinth (ii.4.7) and
Sparta (iii.11.8), and adjoining the sanctuary of
Themis outside a city gate of
Thebes[4] (source : Wikipeida)