Inancient Roman religion andmyth, theParcae (singular:Parca) were the femalepersonifications ofdestiny who directed the lives (and deaths) of humans and gods. They are often called theFates in English, and theirGreek equivalent were theMoirai. They did not control a person's actions except when they are born, when they die, and how much they suffer.[1]
The Parcae recorded the metaphorical thread of life of every mortal and immortal from birth to death. Even the gods feared them, and by some sourcesJupiter was also subject to their power.[2]
Nona was supposed to determine a person's lifespan on thedies lustricus, that is, the day on which the name of the child was chosen, which occurred on the ninth day from birth for a male and the eighth for a female.[3]
The recurrence of thenundinae was also considered adies festus and as suchnefas by some Roman scholars asJulius Caesar andCornelius Labeo, because on it theflaminica dialis offered the sacrifice of a goat to Jupiter in theRegia.[4]
According to some treatments, the Parcae seem to be more powerful than many, or perhaps even all, of the gods: "The power of the Parcae was great and extensive. Some suppose that they were subjected to none of the gods but Jupiter; while others support that even Jupiter himself was obedient to their commands; and indeed we see the father of the gods, in Homer's Iliad, unwilling to see Patroclus perish, yet obliged, by the superior power of the Fates, to abandon him to his destiny."[2] Similarly: "We have the clearest evidence of the poet for it, that whatever happens to us is under the influence of the Parcae. Jupiter himself can not interfere to save his son Sarpedon."[5]
The names of the three Parcae are:
The earliest extant documents referencing these deities are three smallstelae(cippi) found near ancientLavinium shortly afterWorld War II.[10] They bear the inscription:
Neuna fata, Neuna dono, Parca Maurtia dono
The names of two of the three Roman Parcae are recorded (Neuna = Nona,Maurtia = Morta) and connected to the concept offata.[11]
One of the sources for the Parcae isMetamorphoses byOvid, II 654, V 532, VIII 452, XV 781. Another source isAeneid byVirgil, in the opening of Book I.
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