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Lachesis ( ; grc, Λάχεσις, Lákhesis, disposer of lots; from , 'to obtain by lot, by fate, or by the will of the gods'), in
Lachesis ( ; grc, Λάχεσις, Lákhesis, disposer of lots; from , 'to obtain by lot, by fate, or by the will of the gods'), in ancient Greek religion
Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. The application of the modern concept of "religion" to ancient cultures has been ...
, was the middle of the Three Fates, or Moirai; the others were her sisters, Clotho and Atropos. Normally seen clothed in white, Lachesis is the measurer of the thread spun on Clotho's spindle, and in some texts, determines Destiny, or thread of life. Her Roman equivalent was Decima. Lachesis was the apportioner, deciding how much time for life was to be allowed for each person or being. She measured the thread of life with her rod. She is also said to choose a person's destiny after a thread was measured. In mythology, it is said that she appears with her sisters within three days of a baby's birth to decide the baby's fate.
Origin
According toHesiod
Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
's '' Theogony'', Lachesis and her sisters were the daughters of Nyx
Nyx (; , , "Night") is the Greek goddess and personification of night. A shadowy figure, Nyx stood at or near the beginning of creation and mothered other personified deities, such as Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death), with Erebus (Darknes ...
(Night), though later in the same work (ll. 901-906) they are said to have been born of Zeus and Themis. Lachesis is also mentioned in the tenth book of the ''Republic'' of Plato as the daughter of Necessity
Necessary or necessity may refer to:
* Need
** An action somebody may feel they must do
** An important task or essential thing to do at a particular time or by a particular moment
* Necessary and sufficient condition, in logic, something that is ...
. She instructs the souls who are about to choose their next life, assign them lots, and presents them all of the kinds, human and animal, from which they may choose their next life.
Namesake
''Lachesis
Lachesis ( ; grc, Λάχεσις, Lákhesis, disposer of lots; from , 'to obtain by lot, by fate, or by the will of the gods'), in ancient Greek religion, was the second of the Three Fates, or Moirai; the others were her sisters, Clotho and A ...
'' is a genus of pit vipers sometimes called bushmasters.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Lachesis", p. 149). It includes the largest venomous snake in the Western Hemisphere, and the largest vipers in the world.
References
Further reading
*Thomas Blisniewski: ''Kinder der dunkelen Nacht. Die Ikonographie der Parzen vom späten Mittelalter bis zum späten XVIII.'' Jahrhundert. Dissertation Cologne 1992. Berlin 1992.External links
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lachesis (Mythology) Moirai Greek goddesses Children of Zeus Time and fate goddesses Textiles in folklore Personifications in Greek mythology id:Moirai#Lakhesis