ThreeFates-Falceto

=The Three Fates (Moirai)=




 * **Clotho**– "spinner" spun the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle. Her Roman equivalent was //Nona//, (//Ninth//), who was originally a goddess called upon in the ninth month of pregnancy.
 * =====**Lachesis**– "allotter" or drawer of lots measured the thread of life allotted to each person with her measuring rod. Her Roman equivalent was //Decima// (//Tenth//).=====
 * =====**Atropos**– "inexorable" or "inevitable", literally "unturning", was the cutter of the thread of life. She chose the manner of each person's death; and when their time was come, she cut their life-thread with "her abhorred shears". Her Roman equivalent was //Morta// (//Death//).=====

The Greek word //moira// (μοῖρα) literally means a part or portion of the whole, and by extension one's portion in life or destiny, which consisted of bad and good moments that were distributed by the Fates. They controlled the metaphorical thread of life of every mortal from birth to death, and it was impossible for anyone to act over his own destiny, even the gods. The Fates at birth are accompanied by Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth. As goddesses of fate they must necessarily have known the future, which at times they revealed, and were therefore prophetic deities. Their ministers were all the soothsayers and oracles.

Origin
The Fates originate in Greek mythology. The Greeks variously claimed that they were the daughters of Zeus and the Titaness Themis (the "Institutor") or of primordial beings like Nyx, //(Night)//, Chaos, or Ananke (//Necessity)//.

Appearance
The Moirai were described as ugly old women, sometimes lame. They were severe, inflexible and stern. Clotho carries a spindle or a roll (the book of fate), Lachesis a staff with which she points to the horoscope on a globe, and Atropos (Aisa) a cutting instrument. At other times the three were shown with staffs or sceptres, the symbols of dominion, and sometimes even with crowns. At the birth of each man they appeared spinning, measuring, and cutting the thread of life. The Moirai were supposed to appear three nights after a child's birth to determine the course of its life



Modern References


The Fates appear in Disney's //Hercules// (see link below for clip) as well as in __Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief__ by Rick Riordan

[|Hercules- the Fates]

Percy Jackson quote: We were on a stretch of country road-- no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand. The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood-red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I had ever seen. I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn. All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses. The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me. I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching. "Grover?" I said. "Hey, man--" "Tell me they're not looking at you. They are. Aren't they?" "Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?" "Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all." The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-- gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath. "We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on." "What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there." "Come on!" He prised open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back. Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear the //snip// across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for-- Sasquatch or Godzilla.