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| Atropos | |
|---|---|
Goddess of Fate | |
 Bas relief of Atropos cutting the thread of life. | |
| Abode | Mount Olympus |
| Symbol | Scissors |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | |
| Siblings | Lachesis,Clotho, various paternal half-siblings |
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Atropos (/ˈætrəpɒs,-pəs/;[1][2]Ancient Greek:Ἄτροπος "without turn"), inGreek mythology, was the third of theThree Fates orMoirai, goddesses offate anddestiny. Her Roman equivalent wasMorta.
Atropos was one of the Three Fates and was known as "the Inflexible One."[3] It was Atropos who chose the manner of death and ended the life of mortals by cutting their threads.[4] She worked along with her two sisters,Clotho, who spun the thread, andLachesis, who measured the length. Atropos has been featured in several stories, such as those ofAtalanta[5] andAchilles.
Her origin, along with the other two fates, is uncertain, although some called them the daughters of the night. It is clear, however, that at a certain period they ceased to be concerned only with death and also became those powers who decided what may happen to individuals. AlthoughZeus was the chief Greek god and their father, he was still subject to the decisions of the Fates, and thus the executor of destiny, rather than its source. According toHesiod'sTheogony, Atropos and her sisters (Clotho and Lachesis) were the daughters ofErebus (Darkness) andNyx (Night) and sisters toThanatos andHypnos, though later in the same work (ll. 901–906) they are said to have been of Zeus andThemis.
In the ancient Greek poem,The Shield of Heracles, Atropos is referred to as the oldest and smallest of the three fates. This description is uncommon among references to Atropos. It is uncommon in ancient mentions of her in more ways than one as it turns out, including this fate's moniker. Plato may be behind the creation of Atropos as many of the early descriptions of the fates have Aesa (Ancient Greek:Αἶσα) as the name of this third fate, although there is still no clear consensus. The inconsistent nature of these accounts make it difficult to know for sure whether or not Aesa or Atropos is the best name to use when talking about the third fate, but evidence seems to point to Aesa being the more commonly used name earlier on, with Atropos gaining popularity later.[6]
Although later the order of birth of theParcae changes, inGenealogia Deorum Gentilium, the Italian Renaissance writerGiovanni Boccaccio wrote thatAtropos was the youngest of theMoirai.Clotho,Lachesis and Atropos, as previously mentioned in the section on the Dispute, were daughters ofDemogorgon.Cicero, however, calls them the Parcae in De Natura Deorum, where he states that they were daughters ofErebus andNight. It seems preferable, however, to followTheodontius, who affirms that they were created together with the nature of things. Elsewhere, where Cicero speaks of the Parca in the singular, he also calls her the daughter of Erebus and Night.Seneca, in his letters toLucilius, also calls them the Parcae, citing the saying ofCleanthes: “The Fates lead those who are willing and drag those who are unwilling.” In this, he describes not only their office that is, to guide all living beings but also to compel them, as if all things occurred by necessity. Atropos was the one who cut the thread of life, bringing each mortal’s destiny to its inevitable end.[7]
The genus of the deadly nightshade,Atropa belladonna, was named after Atropos byCarolus Linnaeus because of the plant's poisonous properties.
Media related toAtropos (mythology) at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition ofAtropos at Wiktionary Works related toTheogony at Wikisource The dictionary definition ofAtropos at Wiktionary
