The Moirai or Fates are Ancient Greek deities, three sisters who weave the destinies and lives of mortals. Clotho is responsible for spinning the thread of life; Lachesis decides on the fortune or unfortunate paths and the length of an individual’s thread of life; lastly, Atropos, chooses when an individual dies by cutting the thread of life with her shears.
In many instances, the Fates are described as ugly, old women who are stern and severe. The Fates were thought to visit a newborn child three days after birth to determine that child’s Fate.
There is conflicting information on Werther the Fates controlled the destiny of both mortals and gods alike – Zeus may have been exempt. The ancestry of the Fates is also uncertain but most sources agree, they are ancient and predate mortals, the Olympian gods and Titans. These mysterious figures are beyond the realms of mortals, titans and gods, seeming to exist in a place beyond life, death and time itself.
Leanbh Pearson 