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Atropos

  (ăt'rə-pŏs', -pəs) pronunciation
n. Greek Mythology.

One of the three Fates, the cutter of the thread of destiny.

[Greek, from atropos, inexorable : a-, not; see a–1 + tropos, changeable; see –tropous.]


 
 

Atropos, ‘irresistible’, one of the three Fates. Her function, according to the poets, was to cut off the thread of life.

 
WordNet: Atropos
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: the Fate who cuts the thread of life; identified with Roman Morta


 
Wikipedia: Atropos

In Greek mythology, Atropos (Άτροπος, "without turn") was one of the three Moerae, Goddesses of fate and destiny. She was the oldest of the Three Fates, and was known as the "inflexible" or "inevitable." It was Atropos who chose the mechanism of death and ended the life of each mortal by cutting their thread with her "abhorred shears." She worked along with Clotho, who spun the thread, and Lachesis, who measured the length. Her origin, along with the other two fates, is uncertain, although some called them the daughters of the night. It is clear, however, that at a certain period they ceased to be concerned with death and became instead those powers which decided what must happen to individuals. Although Zeus was the chief Greek god and their father, he was still subject to the decisions of the Fates, and thus the executor of destiny rather than its source.Atropos and her sisters were in corporated in Hercules (1997 film) which she was voiced by the Late Paddi Edwards and is know voiced by Tress MacNeille

According to Hesiod's Theogony, Atropos and her sisters (Clotho and Lachesis) were the daughters of Nyx (Night).

Her Roman equivalent was Morta.

The alkaloid extract of the deadly nightshade plant, atropine, is named after her due to its extremely high toxicity.

See also


 
Best of the Web: Atropos

Some good "Atropos" pages on the web:


Greek Mythology
www.pantheon.org
 
 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Classical Literature Companion. The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Copyright © 1993, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Atropos" Read more

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