Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis -- the three Fates; worked the thread of life. [Gk. and Rom. Myth.: Bulfinch]
Clotho or Klotho (pronounced /ˈkloʊθoʊ/) (Greek: 'Κλωθώ') — the "spinner" — was the youngest of the Moirae of Greek mythology, otherwise known as the Fates due to their roles in governing over the lives of humans. It was Clotho who spun the threads of life with her distaff to bring a being into existence. According to Hesiod's Theogony, she and her sisters Lachesis and Atropos are the daughters of Nyx.
Her Roman equivalent was Nona (the 'Ninth'), who was originally a goddess called upon in the ninth month of pregnancy. Clotho also corresponds to Urðr of Norse mythology and the Maiden of the goddess triad common to various Indo-European mythologies.
Lachesis (also Lakhesis, Greek: Λάχεσις, English: "disposer of lots", Etymology: λαγχάνω - to obtain by lot, by fate, or by the will of the gods) was the second of the Three Fates, or Moirae. She was the apportioner, deciding how much time for life was to be allowed for each person or being. She measured the thread of life with her rod. She is also said to choose a person's destiny after a thread was measured. In mythology, it is said that she appears with her sisters within three days of a baby's birth to decide its fate. Her Roman equivalent was Decima. According to Hesiod's Theogony, she and her sisters (Atropos and Clotho) are the daughters of Nyx (Night). In other accounts, they are said to be the daughters of Zeus and Themis as well as several other beings such as Chaos and Ananke. Lachesis is also mentioned in the tenth book of the Republic of Plato as the daughter of Necessity. She instructs the souls who are about to choose their next life, assign them lots, and presents them all of the kinds, human and animal, from which they may choose their next life.
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. 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. Atropos is also referenced in an Emily Dickinson poem (#11 ).
