Role Of Fate In The Odyssey

The common belief that one’s fortune is established by the amount of vitality and effort he or she exerts towards his or her responsibilities was not held by the ancient Greeks, as they considered the destinies of mortals to be predetermined by three goddesses known as the Fates. In the epic poem Theogony, Hesiod chronicled the origins of the Greek gods and first identified the Fates as sisters who worked together to craft the destinies of individuals (Tripp 246). In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, “The metaphor of spinning [was] used repeatedly” and “seems to have given the rise to...later representations of the three women spinning, measuring, and cutting the thread of life” (Tripp 246). According to ancient Greek legends, the Fates had power over critical aspects of human lives and their story has withstood time and continues to influence popular culture.

Particularly, the Fates decided the extent of hardship a person was to face as well as the lifespan of a person (“Fates, The”). “Mythologists do not agree on their [the Fates’] origin;” however, it is widely accepted that the Fates were daughters of Zeus and Themis and sisters of the Seasons (Jancourt). Each of the goddesses partook in a different aspect of constructing a person’s life. Clotho spun the thread and sung of things past while Lachesis measured the thread and sung of things present. Finally, Atropos cut the thread “at the instant of death” and sung of things to come (“Fates”). The Fates were depicted with “crowns made of large flakes of white wool” on their heads and they wore “a white robe [that] completely covered their bodies” (Jancourt). The Olympians “were subject to the Fates” and recognized the vast power the Fates held (Bolton