Atropos was one of the three Moirai in Greek mythology, goddesses who decided the fate of every human who lived on earth. Atropos, along with her sisters Clotho and Lachesis, were considered the daughters of Zeus and Themis, the goddess of divine law; other sources mention that they were the offspring of the primordial goddess Ananke (necessity).
The Moirai, or the Fates, controlled the destiny of every living mortal, and it was believed that even Zeus was subject to their will, unable to change it; in some myths, however, Zeus was named “Moiragetes,” meaning controller of destinies.
Atropos decided how each human would die, and held a pair of scissors with which she cut the thread of life. Clotho spun the thread, while Lachesis measured its length.
1. Content
Atropos in Greek mythology was one of the three Moirai, goddesses of fate and destiny. His Roman equivalent was Morta. Atropos was the oldest of the Three Fates and was known as the “inflexible” or “inevitable.” It was Atropos who chose the mechanism of death and ended the life of every mortal by cutting the thread with his “hated scissors.”
He worked alongside his two sisters, Clotho, who spun the thread, and Lachesis, who measured its length. His origin, along with the other two Fates, is uncertain, although some called them the daughters of night. However, it is clear that at a certain point they ceased to concern themselves solely with death and also became the powers that decided what would happen to individuals.
2. Origin
Their origin, along with the other two Fates, is uncertain, although some called them the daughters of night. However, it is clear that at a certain point they ceased to concern themselves solely with death and also became powers that decided what would happen to individuals.
Although Zeus was the chief Greek god and their father, he was still subject to the decisions of the Fates, and therefore the executor of fate, rather than its source. According to Hesiod’s Theogony, Atropos and her sisters (Clotho and Lachesis) were the daughters of Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night) and sisters to Thanatos and Hypnos, although later in the same work, they are said to have been born to Zeus and Themis.
3. Myths
Moirai, generally also known as Fate, represents the idea of destiny in Greek mythology. It was common for the ancient Greeks to give form to the deities and gods that represented and explained abstract ideas.
The Moirai were, in a way, more than just a way of representing destiny; they took control of it. In fact, they were in charge of controlling people’s lives in various ways, from birth until death.
The Moirai
According to myth, the Fates were three of the six children conceived by Zeus and the goddess of justice, Themis. The remaining children were known as the Horai or the Hours. The three names of the Moirai were Clotho, Lachesis, and Antropos, and each of them possessed a distinctive character that made them unique beings.
The Fates (tapestry)
Clotho was also known as Spinner because it was her duty to spin the thread of a person’s life from her skirt directly to her spindle. She also made important decisions, such as when a person was to be born. This allowed her to choose who was born, but also when gods or mortals were to be saved or condemned to death.
Once this task was completed, Lachesis, always dressed in white, was in charge of measuring the thread, and depending on the length of each person’s thread, their lives were different. This represented destiny, and she was in charge of deciding how much time should be allocated to each person’s life. It is also believed that she was in charge of choosing each person’s destiny once the thread had been measured.
The three fates
Atropos was the oldest of the three and was known as the Inevitable. She was closely related to the death of people, as it was Atropos who would choose the mechanism of death. It was her task to end the lives of mortals by cutting their thread.
It was believed that destinies would appear three days after someone’s birth to decide their fate. The three Moirai represented the cycle of life, essentially representing birth, life, and death. They would spin (Clotho), draw (Lachesis), and cut (Atropos) the thread of Life.
Unlike the Horai, their brothers, the Moirai were depicted as ugly, elderly women. But they were also portrayed as stern, unyielding, and severe, causing people to fear their own fate.
4. Medicine
Atropos lends her name to the genus Atropa, which includes the poisonous plant Atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade), and to the alkaloid atropine, an anticholinergic drug derived from it.
5. Today
The name Atropos in Henny van Oosten’s piece , entitled “Atropos the Inevitable,” comes from the goddess of the same name, one of the three Fates in Greek mythology who controlled the destiny of all. Each person’s life and God was determined by a single thread spun by Klotho. Her sister Lachesis developed the reel and determined the lot, while Atropos was responsible for cutting the point at which life ended.
This richly colored film depicts the three sisters through the representation of their roles, and the abundant symbols form a highly poetic collage of still images, live images, and sound. A rack with scarves and fabrics of different colors moves by the forces of an invisible wind, and the eyes of an old woman shine with a foreknowledge of what is yet to come.
Everything points to a destiny over which we have little or no control. For van Oosten, moving through this landscape is like a visual drug, drawing us in as we move inevitably toward death.
