The Three FatesEtymology

The Ancient Greek word moira means a portion or lot of the whole, and is related to meros, "part, lot" and moros, "fate, doom", Latin meritum, "desert, reward",

English merit.

Moira may mean portion or share on the distribution of booty, portion in life, lot, destiny, ("the immortals

fixed the destiny") death, or portion of the distributed land. The word is also used for something which is

meet and right, "according to fate, in order, rightly").

• Clotho ( "spinner") spun the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle.

• Lachesis ( "allotter" or drawer of lots) measured the thread of life allotted to each person with her measuring rod.

• Atropos ("inexorable" or "inevitable", literally "unturning") was the cutter of the thread of life. She chose the manner of each person's death; and when their time was come, she cut their life-thread with "her abhorred shears". Her Roman equivalent was Morta ('Death').

• In the Republic of Plato, Lachesis sings the things that were, Clotho the things that are, and Atropos the things that are to be.

The Ancient Version

The Modern Version

The Disney Version

The Furies

• In the mythology of ancient Greece and Rome, the Furies were goddesses who represented vengeance. They pursued and punished the wicked, especially those guilty of murder. According to the poet Hesiod, the Furies were born when the Titan Cronus castrated his father, Uranus, the personification of the heavens. The blood that fell upon Cronus’ mother, Gaea, or Mother Earth, produced several sets of offspring, including the Furies. Other authors spoke of them as the daughters of Nyx (Night) or of Erebos (Darkness).

The Gorgon’s Head

• In Greek mythology, the Gorgon (plural: Gorgons) (Greek: Γοργών or Γοργώ Gorgon/Gorgo) was a terrifying female creature. The name derives from the Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful." While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a horrifying visage that turned those who beheld it to stone.

• Gorgons were a popular image of Greek mythology, appearing in the earliest of written records of Ancient Greek religious beliefs such as those of Homer. Because of their legendary gaze, images of the Gorgons were put upon objects and buildings for protection.

• It is mentioned that the Gorgons lived in the entrance of the Underworld in the Aenid.

• In later myths, Medusa was the only one of the three Gorgons who was not immortal..

• Some authors say that Perseus was armed with a scythe from Hermes and a mirror (or a shield) from Athena. Perseus could safely cut off Medusa's head without turning to stone by looking only at her reflection in the shield.

The Gorgon’s Head