Fates

The Fates are a common motif in European polytheism, most frequently represented as a trio of goddesses. The Fates shape the destiny of each human, often expressed in textile metaphors such as spinning fibers into yarn, or weaving threads on a loom. This trio is composed of sisters who go by the names Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos (also known as the daughters of Zeus and Themis). These divine figures are often artistically depicted as beautiful maidens with consideration to their serious responsibility: the life of mortals. Poets typically express the Fates as ugly and unwavering, representing the gravity of their role within the mythological and human worlds.

Individual Roles

The Moirai, meaning "allotted portion" or "share", separated each sister into a different role in order to handle the fates of humans. The Fates were expected to appear within three days of a mortal's birth. Clotho was the first of the three, known as "the spinner", due to the fact that she would weave the threads of human life while in the womb. This act is used to represent her divine duty, also incorporating pregnancies or birth when referring to her. The second Fate, Lachesis, is known as "the Allotter," given the fact that her responsibility includes determining how much mortal life is assigned to the souls of each individual. This, in turn, determines the number of tribulations that individual is predestined to face. The final Fate, Atropos, is known as the most stubborn sister of the three, coined the nickname "the un-turnable". Completing the cycle, Atropos is expected to cut off the thread of life, determining when a human will die. She is typically seen hand in hand with death and the Underworld. Once Atropos cuts the thread, each soul is sent to the Underworld where they receive judgement and are sent to one of three options: Elysium, the Fields of Punishment, or the Fields of Asphodel.

Elysium is labeled a land for the blessed, whereas those who committed horrible deeds were sent to the Fields of Punishment. For the mortals who lived neither an objectively good or bad life were sent to the Fields of Asphodel.

In Mythology

The Fates have appeared in numerous cultures with similar tales. In Greek mythology, they appear as incarnations of destiny named the Moirai. The Roman counterparts of the Moirai are known as the Parcae. This trio also makes a name in Slavic culture as the Rozhanitsy, figures who foretell an individual's destiny. Similar to Greek mythology, the Fates are known as incarnations of destiny called Norns in Norse mythology. The biggest variant within these cultures remains in Baltic mythology, which characterizes the Deivės Valdytojos as seven sisters who weave pieces of clothing from the lives of humans.

In the Visual Arts

Considering the roles of each divine sister, Clotho is typically portrayed as a younger woman because of her relationship with the birth of humans, whereas Atropos is pictured as an old woman because of her hand in the death of mortals. Each sister has been pictured with a tangible representation of their power: Clotho with thread, Lachesis with an eye glass, and Atropos with scissors. The Fates make a specific appearance within the artwork of Francisco de Goya's black paintings. These were a series of 14 pieces completed by the artist nearing the later stages of his life. Their dark tone, literally and figuratively, capture the Fates holding an individual hostage as they are deciding his destiny. More recently, Anne-Katrin Altwein depicted the divine sisters through sculptures that originally resided in the entrance of a German hospital as a means of creative inspiration to patients. Altwein sculpted Clotho as a pregnant woman as opposed to simply holding the thread of life in order to present her in a more positive light. The sculptures have since been moved to the city center of Jena, also home to the same hospital.

In Fiction

This motif has been replicated in fictional accounts, such as:

*Three Witches, characters in Shakespeare's '' Macbeth''
*In his poem "Howl", Allen Ginsberg warns of "the three old shrews of fate the one eyed shrew of the heterosexual dollar the one eyed shrew that winks out of the womb and the one eyed shrew that does nothing but sit on her ass and snip the intellectual golden threads of the craftsman's loom".
* Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch, characters in Lloyd Alexander's 1960s book series ''The Chronicles of Prydain''.
* The Fates, characters in Disney's ''Hercules''
*The Kindly Ones, characters in “ The Sandman” series of comics written by Neil Gaiman
*The Fates/Moirai, characters in various books by Rick Riordan in the ''Percy Jackson and the Olympians'', ''Heroes of Olympus'' and '' The Trials of Apollo'' series
*Both the Moirai, under the name "Sisters of Fate", and the Norns appear in the '' God of War'' video game series; the Sisters of Fate appear as antagonists in the Greek-based game ''God of War II'' (2007) while the Norns appear as minor characters in the Norse-based game, ''God of War Ragnarök'' (2022).
*The Fates, characters in Anaïs Mitchell's ''Hadestown'' musical
*The Fates, primary antagonists of season five of the superhero television series ''Legends of Tomorrow''
*The three aspects of Fate in '' With a Tangled Skein'' by Piers Anthony

References

Time and fate goddesses
Triple goddesses
Destiny
Textiles in folklore

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