Atropos
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Atropos ( Greek Ἄτροπος Atropos , German , the inevitable ' ) is in the Greek mythology, the oldest of the three Fates . As the destroyer, it was her job to cut the thread of life that had been spun by her sisters Klotho and measured by Lachesis . She chose the way of death of a person. According to Hesiod , Atropus was short in stature, but ranked high above her two sisters.
According to Hesiod, Atropus was a daughter of Zeus and Themis . Elsewhere in the theogony , however, the goddesses of fate (Moiren) are called children of the Nyx ("night").
With Plato the Moirs are daughters of Ananke , of fate. They wear white robes and sing in harmony with the sirens . Atropos sings of those things that will be (of the future).
In the birth of the hero Meleager , Atropos plays the role of the evil fairy in the fairy tale: The three Moiren appear at the boy's cradle and sing his fate, Clotho sings his generosity, Lachesis his bravery, Atropos, however, throws a look at a piece of wood that is hanging up lies on the stove and predicts that the boy will only live until this log is burned. His mother Althaia then tears the log out of the fire and buries it deep in the earth. When Meleagros is later guilty of a crime, his mother burns the log and he dies.
Their counterpart in Roman mythology was Morta .
literature
- Ferdinand Dümmler : Atropos . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II, 2, Stuttgart 1896, Col. 2150-2152.
