Atropos was one of the three goddesses of three Fates. Also known as the Moirai, the three Fates were the goddesses of fate and destiny. They controlled the path that every mortal took in life.
Of the three Fates, Atropos was the eldest. She dealt with the inevitable and unstoppable events in life. Her main focus was on death, the inevitable fate of all mortal beings. The fates were often depicted as three sisters spinning cloth. Clotho would spin the cloth, Lachesis would measure the length of the cloth, and Atropos would cut the cloth once it was measured. This served as a metaphor for creating life, assessing the length and quality of life, and ultimately ending it with death. Atropos’ role in cutting the cloth of life meant that she ultimately decided how and when mortals would die.
While gods such as Zeus, Poseidon, Hades etc were considering the most powerful gods, even they had no sway over the Fates. Atropos, and her sisters were the deciders of fate. The other gods were merely enforcers of fate.
Stories surrounding the origin of the Fates is inconsistent. Some myths claimed they were the daughters of Erebus and Nyx, and sisters to Thanatos and Hypnos. Later myths claimed they were children of Zeus and Themis.
Atropos also went by the name Aisa. Both of her Greek names roughly translated to “without turn.” The Roman equivalent of Atropos was Morta. Atropos, along with her sisters, made an appearance in the story of Atalanta.
Link/cite this page
If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content.
Link will appear as Atropos: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net - Greek Gods & Goddesses, October 20, 2019