Die Moiren; Tradition und Wandel des Motivs der Schicksalsgot... by Markos Giannoulis

The ancient Greek word moira ( μοῖρα) means a portion or lot of the whole, and is related to meros, 'part, lot' and moros, 'fate, doom', Latin meritum, 'reward', English merit, derived from the PIE root *(s)mer, 'to allot, assign'. The Three Fates, tondo by Hans Vischer, c. The feminine name Moira is derived from it. The goddess Dike ('justice, divine retribution'), keeps the order and sets a limit to any actions. In earliest Greek philosophy, the cosmogony of Anaximander is based on these mythical beliefs. The concept of a universal principle of natural order and balance has been compared to similar concepts in other cultures like the Vedic Ṛta, the Avestan Asha (Arta) and the Egyptian Maat.

To the Moirai (Moirae, Fates) the might of Zeus must bow and by the Immortals' purpose all these things had come to pass, or by the Moirai's ordinance. The ancient Greek writers might call this power Moira or Ananke, and even the gods could not alter what was ordained: It seems that Moira is related with Tekmor ('proof, ordinance') and with Ananke ('destiny, necessity'), who were primordial goddesses in mythical cosmogonies. In Plato's Republic the Three Fates are daughters of Ananke (necessity). Later they are daughters of Zeus and Themis, who was the embodiment of divine order and law. In the Theogony of Hesiod, the three Moirai are personified, daughters of Nyx and are acting over the gods.

In the Homeric poems Moira or Aisa are related to the limit and end of life, and Zeus appears as the guider of destiny.

Both gods and men had to submit to them, although Zeus's relationship with them is a matter of debate: some sources say he can command them (as Zeus Moiragetes 'leader of the Fates'), while others suggest he was also bound to the Moirai's dictates. They were independent, at the helm of necessity, directed fate, and watched that the fate assigned to every being by eternal laws might take its course without obstruction.

They controlled the mother thread of life of every mortal from birth to death. Their number became fixed at three: Clotho ('spinner'), Lachesis ('allotter') and Atropos ('the unturnable', a metaphor for death). In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Moirai ( / ˈ m ɔɪ r aɪ, - r iː/ Ancient Greek: Μοῖραι, 'lots, destinies, apportioners'), often known in English as the Fates ( Latin: Fata), Moirae or Mœræ (obsolete), were the white-robed incarnations of destiny their Roman equivalent was the Parcae (euphemistically the 'sparing ones'), and there are other equivalents in cultures that descend from the Proto-Indo-European culture.

Die Moiren; Tradition und Wandel des Motivs der Schicksalsgot... by Markos Giannoulis