The Moirai and the Erinyes – The Fates and the Furies of Ancient Greece

 

 

As fate would have it, or, should I say; as destiny would have it?

Most of us think of and use the two words; fate and destiny, in the same way, as if they are one and the same, meaning we have no control whatsoever of how our lives will pan out, whatever will be will be, everything is predetermined from birth.

This is how the ancient Greeks viewed fate and destiny, as one and the same, in fact they used only one word; Moirai – Μοῖραι, in English the Fates, the rulers of destiny, when referring to both fate and destiny.

 

 

Today, in Modern Greek the word moira – μοίρα , means destiny, or, if you like, fate, it makes no difference.

 

The Three Fates (The Moira), Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos

 

 

In Greek mythology, the Fates, or, the Moirai, were three sisters; Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, the daughters of Erebus (deep darkness and shadow) and Nyx (night), who were both primordial deities and children of chaos.

They were believed to be the mother of all things mysterious such as death, disease, sleep, ghosts, dreams, witchcraft and enchantments.

 

 

In some later versions of the myth, The Fates are said to be the daughters of Zeus, king of Greek gods and Themis, the Lady of Good Council.

The three fates are three women of three different ages: maiden, mother, and crone, each assigned a different task.

 

Clotho: The Spinner

 

The youngest sister, Clotho, represented the present and spun the thread of life, her name meant The Spinner.

 

Lachesis: The Caster of Lots

 

The middle sister, Lachesis, represented the future; she measured the thread of life spun by Clotho.

Lachesis was the one to decide how many years of life were allotted to each and everyone. Her name meant the Caster of lots.

 

Atropos: the Goddess of Death

 

The oldest of the three sisters, Atropos, represented the past; she cut the thread of life, she chose the manner and time of each mortal’s death; whoever the thread was attached to, died.

Atropos, the most terrible of the three sisters, was also known as the Goddess of Death.

 

 

The Thread of Life

 

Together, the three sisters; The Fates, weave the thread of each mortal’s destiny; Clotho, spins the thread, Lachesis, measures it and Atropos, cuts it.

 When the thread is cut, your time is up and there’s nothing you can do about it, fate has wielded its scissors, you’ve come to the end of your life on Earth.

Symbols of The Fates are; the thread, the staff, the Spindle, the shears and the Book of Fate.

 

How Fate was allotted

 

 

 

The Fates were said to be present at the birth of all babies, gods and mortals alike, to determine the course of its life, yes, even the great Greek gods could not escape destiny.

At the moment of birth, Clotho, the spinner, whom, if you remember depicts the present, spins the baby’s destiny, with what criteria fate was allotted; only Clotho knew.

 Lachesis, representing the future, looked ahead, took note of all deeds done, good or bad, consulted her sister, Atropos, who, after all, made the final cut, measured the thread of life accordingly and allotted to the baby, the appropriate number of years they would walk upon the Earth.

Now, Atropos, who portrayed the past, with her sharp scissors ever ready to cut through the thread of life, was taking stock, looking back, weighing up the good against the bad.

 

 

Had suitable punishment been served to this individual, in the form of karma, assigned by The Erinyes (The Furies), agents of the Fates, for evilness, dastardly deeds and crimes he had committed?

 Should she give them the snip, or allot them a couple of more years for good behavior?

 

Bad things come in threes;

The Furies (The Erinyes), sidekicks to the Fates

 

 

 

 The Erinyes, sometimes called the Eumenides (The Furies), were three goddesses of vengeance and retribution;

 

 Tisiphone: Punisher of murderers

 

Tisiphone was the Avenger who unleashed vengeful destruction, she was the punisher of murderers,

 

Megara: Punisher of infidelity

 

Megara, full of jealous rage, she was the punisher of infidelity, oath breakers, and theft,

 

Alecto: Punisher of moral crimes

 

Alecto, was unresting and possessed endless anger, she was the punisher of moral crimes (anger, etc).

According to the ancient Greek poet, Hesiod, the Titan god, Cronus, castrated his father, Uranus and threw his genitals into the sea, where they emerged from the sea foam as the goddess, Aphrodite, the Erinyes materialized from the drops of Uranus’ blood which fell to Earth.

 

 

Various other myths would have them to be from an older era, where they resulted from Nyx (night), or from a coming together of air and Mother Earth.

The Furies are depicted as three whip wielding, ugly, sisters, with wings of bats and venomous snakes wrapped around their black-clothed bodies.

The furies (The Erinyes), were assigned by the Fates, (The Moira), to bring torment upon sinners, not only on Earth, but also in Tartarus, the Underworld.

 

 

Let the punishment fit the crime

 

In the beginning, The Furies’ main concerns were with patricide, matricide, offenses against the gods, and perjury, but as time went on; it seemed they acquired a taste for vengeance and retribution and would punish any sin, however insignificant and any injured party wanting justice could call upon the Furies to dole out some karma or kismet, call it what you will.

The anger of the furies revealed itself in many ways, even catching sight of one had been known to cause insanity, and they often drove offenders to suicide.

 

 

The harshest punishment, illness and disease, went to children who murdered their parents and parents, who murdered their children, any nation or person found to be protecting such a person, could suffer hunger, disease and death.

The Erinyes are best known for the role they played in Aeschylus’s Oresteia, a trilogy of plays dipicting the murder and mayhem in the lives of Agamemnon, the King of Argos and his son, Orestes.

 

The punishment of Orestes

 

 

Agamemnon, with his fleet of a thousand ships, must set sail for Troy; good weather and fair winds are imperative but after accidently killing a deer, Artemis, goddess of the hunt, declares that unless, as retribution, Agamemnon does not agree to sacrifice his eldest daughter, Iphigenia, she, Artemis, will make sure a calm descends all the seas, preventing him from sailing.

Agamemnon agrees and kills poor, Iphigenia.

 

 

Clytemnestra, the distraught mother of Iphigenia and wife of Agamemnon, with the help of her lover, Aegisthus, murder Agamemnon.

 

 

Orestes, son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, avenges his father’s death by murdering his mother and her lover Aegisthus, whereupon, the Furies, hunt down Orestes and drive him to insanity as a punishment for the crime of matricide, he reaped what he sowed.

 

Fate or Destiny?

 

Slowly, many great minds and philosophers began to believe that one important factor separated Fate and destiny and that was free will, the freedom of choice.

We get to choose how to make the most of what fate gives us (of which we have no control over), to determine our own destiny.

 

 

Let’s say, for example, you’re born with the voice of an angel, that is a gift from fate, what you do with, if you perfect it, work on it, exploit it and make millions by becoming a star, then, you decided your destiny.

It works the other way around too, fate may have bestowed on you some terrible misfortune, such as a physical disability, you can choose to wallow in self-pity, moan, groan, complain and give up on life, or, you can think positive, look at your situation from all angles, and then  do the best you can to get ahead in life.

 

Does luck play a part in destiny?

 

It’s all rather like the question of luck, you’re lucky if you are born in a country which is not at war or if you have good DNA but is it luck that got you that job you were after, or is it all the hard work you put in to get that job?

 

 

Maybe the ancient Greeks were right to believe fate and destiny are one and the same and that whatever you do, good or bad, you have no control whatsoever over your life, or how long you have to enjoy it, before Atropos, the most terrible of the three fates, snips your thread.

 

 

Live your best life, take risks, do what makes you happy, the Fates and the Furies will get you in the end anyway, they know where you live!

 

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