Atropos

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)

For other uses, see Atropos (disambiguation).

Bas relief of Atropos cutting the thread of life

In Greek mythology, Atropos (pronounced /ˈætrəˌpɒs/) (from Greek Άτροπος, "without turn") was one of the three Moirae, goddesses of fate and destiny. Her Roman equivalent was Morta.

Atropos 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 her two sisters, Clotho, who spun the thread, and Lachesis, who measured the length.

Origin

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 only concerned with death and also became those powers who decided what may 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. According to Hesiod's Theogony, Atropos and her sisters (Clotho and Lachesis) were the daughters of Nyx (Night), though later in the same work (ll. 901-906) they are said to have been born of Zeus and Themis. Atropos also received acclaim in Henry David Thoreau's, Walden, as being compared to the railroad of the 19th century.

In popular culture

Atropos is referenced in an Emily Dickinson poem (#11 in "The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson" ed. Thomas H. Johnson, Little Brown and Co. 1960 Twelfth Printing.). It is also the name of a fictitious sloop of war captained by Horatio Hornblower, in the Hornblower Saga by author C. S. Forester.

Atropos-XR is the name of a female robot counterpart to the character Robo in the video game Chrono Trigger by Square-Enix.

Atropos, along with Clotho and Lachesis, is the name of one of the "Doctors" (playing a similar role to the Moirae) in the Stephen King novel, Insomnia.

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Theogony

v • d • e Time in religion and mythology Major subjects Time — Cosmology · Religion · Mythology — Eternity · Arguments for eternity · Immortality Ritual · Religious festival · New moon — Destiny and fate · Predestination · Prophecy · Oracle · Divination · Eschatology · Millennialism Time Portal Time and fate deities of antiquity Egyptian — Hemsut · Huh Ancient Near East — Ashima · Ishtar · Mamitu · Mammetun · Manah · Manu the Great · Meni Greek — The Fates: Moirae — Atropos · Clotho · Lachesis Ananke · Geras · Horae · Kairos · Khronos · Tyche Roman — The Fates: Parcae — Decima · Morta · Nona Camenae: Antevorte/Porrima · Carmenta · Egeria · Postverta Aeternitas · Anna Perenna · Caerus · Chronos · Fortuna · Vertumnus Etruscan — Nortia · Tinia Norse — Norns (Urðr · Verðandi · Skuld) Day: (Dagr · Skinfaxi) · Night: (Nótt · Hrímfaxi) · Seasons: (Sumarr and Vetr) · Old age: Elli Baltic — Dalia · Lauma Polish — Sudz Romanian — Fates: Ursitoare Other European — Matres and Matrones · Father Time · Beten Philippine — Kan-Laon Hinduism Kalpa · Manvantara · Yuga · Kāla (time) · Hindu calendar · Hindu units of measurement  · Kali Buddhism Wheel of time · Kalachakra · Maitreya · Uposatha Judaism Ancient of Days · Ein Sof · Hebrew calendar · Missing years · Jewish holidays · Passover · Shabbat · Shabbaton · Shmita Christianity Byzantine calendar · Gregorian calendar · Liturgical year · Sabbath in Christianity · Sabbath in seventh-day churches · Easter · Computus · Moveable feast · Easter controversy · Quartodecimanism · Reform of the date of Easter · Day of the Vow Islam Islamic calendar · Jumu'ah · Muslim holidays · Predestination in Islam Other traditions Babylonian calendar · Pentecontad calendar · Dreamtime / The Dreaming · Oracle bone · Maya calendar Related topics Week-day names