Lachesis was the middle member of the Fates. The Fates were sister goddesses of fate and destiny. Lachesis’ role was to decided what kind of life each mortal would live. She was usually depicted wearing white.
The role of the three Fates was often alluded to with the metaphor of spinning cloth. Clotho would spin the threads, Lachesis would measure and inspect the cloth with a rod, and Atropos would shear and cut the cloth. Lachesis’ role in measuring cloth meant that she effectively decided how long each mortal got to live. Her role inspecting the cloth also meant she decided many of the things mortals got to do during their lives. It was said that Lachesis would decide the fate of a child three days after it was born to decide its path in life.
Some stories stated that Lachesis would appear to souls who had just died. She would present them with a lot of new lives that they could chose from. Some lives were human lives, some were animal lives. Once a dead soul chose their lot, Lachesis would send them to reincarnate into the new lives they had chosen.
Although gods such as Zeus, Hades, and Demeter were considered the most powerful gods, even they had no sway over the Fates. Only the Fates could control fate. The other gods were merely the enforcers of whatever destinies the Fates chose.
Their are conflicting stories about who birthed the three Fates. Some stories said the three Fates were the daughters of Erebus and Nyx. Other stories claimed the were the children of Zeus and Themis. At one point, it was said that Lachesis was the daughter of Necessity.
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