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The Fates

Keras

Κῆρας

The Destinies

Moirai

Μοίρας

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The original goddess of fate and destiny was referred to as Moira and Aisa.

There is some confusion as to the heritage of the Fates but there is no confusion as to their identities and their divine mission on the earth. Their names are—Klotho, Lakhesis, and Atropos. Klotho spins the thread of life, Lakhesis determines the length of the thread, and Atropos cuts the thread when the proper time has come for death. Atropos is the smallest of the three, but she is the eldest and superior to her sisters. Atropos is called "She who cannot be turned."

The three sisters are commonly called the Fates, but the names Fates and Destinies seem to be interchangeable with most translators. They are also known as the Spinners because mortal lives are likened to thread that is spun, measured, and finally cut.

Referring to these goddesses as the Fates rather than using their Greek name as I do with the Kharites (Graces) or the Horae (Hours) is to avoid the confusion encountered when trying to deduce their "true" Greek name. The poets Homer and Hesiod call the Fates the Keras to differentiate them from the Destinies, which they call the Moirai. Later authors such as Pausanias call the Fates the Moirai exclusively. Homer and Hesiod predate Pausanias by 700 years so their terminology might be more accurate.

Nyx

In the poem Theogony by Hesiod, the distinction is clearly made between Black Fate (Kera), the Destinies (Moirai), and the Fates (Keras). We are told that the Fates are the daughters of Nyx (Night) and the Destinies are the daughters of Themis (goddess of necessity) and Zeus. The names of the Fates and the Destinies are both listed as Klotho, Lakhesis, and Atropos.

Themis

The intervention of the Fates in human affairs did not begin until after the creation of the first woman. Zeus commanded the Immortals to create a woman as punishment for the crimes of the Rebel God, Prometheus. On two occasions, Prometheus insulted Zeus: once by not offering the prime meat of a sacrificial animal and another time by stealing fire and giving it to the men on the earth. Zeus had Prometheus chained to a mountain for his crimes, but he also tricked Prometheus's brother Epimetheus into accepting a divinely created woman. The woman's name was Pandora. Her name means, All Endowed because each of the Immortals contributed to Pandora's inception. Pandora was intended to be a curse on the men of the earth and from Zeus's perspective, she fulfilled her destiny superbly.

Before Pandora, men lived free of ills ... men were not subject to hard toil and were free of sickness. After the creation of Pandora, the Fates inflicted all manner of evil and hardship on the men of the earth. From that time until now, the portion of good or bad each person will experience in their life is determined by the Fates at their birth. Once your thread of life is spun and measured, there is no escaping your final Fate ... when Atropos cuts your thread of life, there is no reanimation.

Pandora

The Fates are ruthless and without pity or remorse. When the god Hephaistos made a shield for Herakles, he included images of the Fates that were ugly and terrifying. The three sisters gnashed their fangs as they stalked soldiers on the battlefield—waiting to drink their blood. The Fates will never cease from their punishment of wrongdoers ... they punish the Immortals as well as mortal men with severe penalties for their transgressions.

The Fates are often confused with the Roman goddesses, the Morae.

Bibliography

The Iliad

Theogony

Works and Days

The Great Eoiae

Shield of Herakles

Description of Greece by Pausanias

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