Clotho (; ) or Klotho, is a mythological figure. She was one of the

Three 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 ...

Moirai In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Moirai ()often known in English as the Fateswere the personifications of fate, destiny. They were three sisters: Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis (mythology), Lachesis (the allotter ...

. In ancient Greek mythology, she spins the thread of human life, her sisters draw out ( Lachesis) and cut ( Atropos) the thread. She also made major decisions, such as when a person was born, thus in effect controlling people's lives. This power enabled her not only to choose who was born, but also to decide when deities or mortals were to be saved or put to death. For example, Clotho resurrected

Pelops In Greek mythology, Pelops (; ) was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus region (, lit. "Pelops' Island"). He was the son of Tantalus and the father of Atreus. He was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the ...

when his father killed him. Her Roman equivalent is Nona. As one of the three fates, her influence in Greek mythology was significant. Along with her sisters and

Hermes Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...

, Clotho was given credit for creating the alphabet for their people. Even though Clotho and her sisters were worshiped as goddesses, their representation of

fate Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predeterminism, predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words wiktionary ...

is more central to their role in mythology. Thread represented human life and her decisions represented the fate of all people in society.

Origin

Although there does not seem to be an epic tale in Classical Greek mythology in which the Fates are the main focus, they have played critical roles in the lives of deities and mortals. It is likely that the versions of myths about their primal origins were lost in the transitions from prehistoric Greek mythology to that of the Classical writings. According to

Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...

's ''

Theogony The ''Theogony'' () is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogy, genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Homeric Greek, epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contains 1,022 lines. It is one ...

'', Clotho and her sisters ( Atropos and Lachesis) were the daughters of Nyx (Night), without the assistance of a father.Hard
p. 26

, ''

'
217–8
Later in the same work (ll. 901-906) they are said to have been born of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

and

Themis In Greek mythology and religion, Themis (; ) is the goddess and personification of justice, divine order, law, and custom. She is one of the twelve Titan children of Gaia and Uranus, and the second wife of Zeus. She is associated with oracles a ...

. Clotho is mentioned in the tenth book of the ''

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

'' of

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

as the daughter of

Necessity Necessary or necessity may refer to: Concept of necessity * 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 l ...

, as well. In Roman mythology, it was believed that Clotho was the daughter of

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...

and

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; , a poetic form of ('), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea (), is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (S ...

The Ivory Shoulder

As one of the Three Fates, Clotho participated in creating the alphabet with Hermes, forced the goddess

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

into making love with other gods, weakened the monster Typhon with poison fruit, persuaded Zeus to kill Asclepius with a bolt of lightning, and aided the deities in their war with the

Giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

s by killing Agrius and Thoas with bronze clubs. Clotho also used her life-giving powers in the myth of

Tantalus Tantalus ( ), also called Atys, was a Greek mythological figure, most famous for his punishment in Tartarus: for either revealing many secrets of the gods, for stealing ambrosia from them, or for trying to trick them into eating his son, he ...

, the man who had slain and prepared his son

for a dinner party with the deities. When the deities had discovered what Tantalus had done, they put the remaining pieces of Pelops in a cauldron. Clotho brought him back to life, with the exception of a shoulder that had been eaten by

Demeter In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over cro ...

and therefore, was replaced by a chunk of ivory. Clotho was worshiped in many places in Greece as one of the Three Fates and is sometimes associated with the Keres and Erinyes, which are other deity groups in Greek mythology.

Ariadne In Greek mythology, Ariadne (; ; ) was a Cretan princess, the daughter of King Minos of Crete. There are variations of Ariadne's myth, but she is known for helping Theseus escape from the Minotaur and being abandoned by him on the island of N ...

is similar to Clotho in that she carries a ball of thread, much like Clotho's spindle.

The Fooling of the Fates

Clotho, along with her sisters, was tricked into becoming intoxicated by Alcestis. Alcestis, who had two children with Admetus, became extremely saddened when Admetus became very sick and eventually died. Alcestis used Clotho's drunkenness to try to get her husband back. The Three Fates explained that if a replacement for Admetus could be found, then he could be released from the Underworld. A substitute was not found so Alcestis offered herself up to be the replacement in order to bring her husband back to life. As the agreement had been met, Alcestis quickly began to grow sick and sank into her grave as Admetus came back to life. At the last instant,

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

arrived at the home of Admetus. When Thanatos came to take Alcestis away, Heracles wrestled him and forced him to return Alcestis, allowing Admetus and Alcestis to be reunited.

The Calydonian Boar Hunt

A tale in which the Fates played an integral part was that of

Meleager In Greek mythology, Meleager (, ) was a hero venerated in his '' temenos'' at Calydon in Aetolia. He was already famed as the host of the Calydonian boar hunt in the epic tradition that was reworked by Homer. Meleager is also mentioned as o ...

and the Brand, which W. H. D. Rouse describes in ''Gods, Heroes and Men of Ancient Greece''. Meleager led a hunting party to slay the Calydonian Boar, which was set loose upon Calydon by

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

. She was displeased at the Calydonian king for neglecting to make a proper sacrifice to her. After slaying the boar, Meleager presented the skin to a woman present at the party named

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

, with whom he was smitten. His uncles were also part of the adventurous group, and they were upset by Meleager's gift to Atalanta. They believed a woman should not have the skin of the boar. As a result of this disagreement, Meleager slew his uncles, who were his mother's brothers. She was so enraged that she decided to take vengeance upon him. She remembered a visit that the Fates had made a week after Meleager was born. A Fate told Althaia that her son's life would expire when the burning log in the fireplace ceased to flame. She promptly extinguished the flames, preserved the log and hid it safely. In her rage over the loss of her brothers, she lit the log to punish Meleager. As the log was consumed in flame, Meleager burned to death.

References

* Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch's Mythology. Ed. Richard Martin. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. * Dixon-Kennedy, Mike. "Clotho". ''Encyclopedia of Greek-Roman Mythology''. ABC-CLIO. 1998. * Dixon-Kennedy, Mike. "Fates". ''Encyclopedia of Greek-Roman Mythology''. ABC-CLIO. 1998. * Evslin, Bernard. ''Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths''. New York: Laurel-Leaf Books, 1996. * Grimal, Pierre. ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology''. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 1996. * Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004.
Google Books
* Harris, Stephen L. and Gloria Platzner. ''Classical Mythology Images and Insights''. Ed. Emily Barrosse. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. *

, ''

'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital LibraryInternet Archive
* McLeish, Kenneth. ''Myth: Myths and Legends of the World Explored''. New York: Facts On File, 1996. * Mercatante, Anthony S. "Meleager". ''The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend''. New York: Facts On File, 1988. * Rouse, W.H.D. ''Gods, Heroes and Men of Ancient Greece''. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 1957. * Schwab, Gustav. ''Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece''. New York: Pantheon Books, 1946. * Turner, Patricia and Charles Russell Coulter. ''Dictionary of Ancient Deities''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. * Piers Anthony. ''With A Tangled Skein''. New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 1985. * Platos, ''Politeia''.

External links