Sisters weaving the thread of fate. Greek goddesses: names and list of major goddesses. Moiras and Grays: different facets of ideas about life and death

The concept of goddesses spinning the thread of fate arose in the ancient world with the advent of spinning tools. These were called moiras, the word translated as “fate, destiny, share.” The number of moiras varied depending on time, but in classic version there are only three of them: Clotho, Lachesis and Anthropos.

Klotho is translated as “spinner or spinner.” This Moira spun the thread of fate. Lachesis translated means the giver of lots. Lachesis twisted the thread, determined its length, that is, the fate given to every living creature, and wound it around. Anthropos, “inevitability,” already meant death. This Moira was breaking the thread of fate.

The Greeks believed that they were the children of Kronos (the god of time) and Night. Plato said that they are the creation of Ananke - “necessity”, and that they have power over the fate of not only people, but also the gods. However, among the priesthood the prevailing doctrine was that Zeus was still free to change his fate, and that he was above them as the supreme organizer of order, so Zeus was even called moirogetus - “driver of the moiras,” showing the dependence of the goddesses of fate on his supreme will.

There is a variant of the myth in which Zeus is indicated as the father of the Moira, and the goddess of justice Themis is called their mother. Here the thought of fate as God’s justice already prevails, which is already closer to Christianity.

Among the Romans, the moiras corresponded to parks: Nona, Decima and Morta with the same functions and attributes.

Goddesses of fate in Norse mythology

Norns in Germanic are not always depicted as spinning thread, but they almost correspond to the image of the Moira. These are three goddesses and sorceresses who can influence and even determine the fate of the world. None of the mortals or gods can influence them and their predictions.

They settled near the sacred tree Yggdrasil to protect the aesir gods from evil deeds and edify them with their predictions. Their names are Urd (“fate”), Verdandi (“becoming”) and Skuld (“duty”). Norns represent the past, present and future, and their main occupation is the yarn of the threads of fate.

Norns give people unequal destinies, some are lucky all their lives, while others die in poverty and misery. But they could also show personal sympathy if they were insulted at the birth of a child, so the Scandinavians tried to appease the Norns with sacrifices.

Norns spin not of their own free will, but in obedience to the most ancient and impersonal law of the Universe - Orlog, which is much closer to philosophical fate than Plato's Ananka-necessity. Urd was usually portrayed as a decrepit old woman, Verdani as a mature woman, and Skuld as a very young girl.

... inhabitants of the region of the dark sea, where the warm waves of the night
They break through the grotto of wondrous stone in full swing.
You fly to the realm of mortals, above the boundless land
Rush towards the bloody human race with vain hope,
In your thin crimson shrouds go out into the
Mortal destinies - and there is your all-earthly chariot
Vanity drives forever, and it constantly rushes
Past the mark that the way of life has set, hope, anxiety,

Since ancient times, this law or power is infinitely good
Moira alone observes this life - from the highest blessed ones,
Snowy Olympus inhabited by no one else but the eye
Zeus, who is all-perfect, and everything that happens to us,
Moira and the all-comprehending mind of Zeus know.
Daughters of the good father - O Lachesis, Clotho and Atropa!
Inevitable, inexorable, you, oh night ones,
O all-givers, O saviors of mortals in misfortune...

(Orpheus)

Moira (moira, lit. “share”, “part”, hence the “fate” that everyone receives at birth) · goddess of human destiny.

Initially, in the minds of people, fate was embodied in some material object, stone, animal - fetish, carrier of vital forces. Thus, Meleager’s moira is contained in a brand left over from the sacrificial fire, hidden by the hero’s mother. Wanting to destroy her son, the mother took out a brand and threw it into the fire, where it burned, causing his painful death. Subsequently, when animistic ideas prevailed, the magical power of fate, contained in the fetish, began to be presented as an independent deity, which endows a person with one or another fate, expresses his will to him, determines his future life, leads him from birth to death - and was embodied in images of moira.

Moirai are now understood as fate (“that which is spoken”) and fate (“that which is destined”), although for these concepts in Greek special terms are developed. Moira is a dark invisible force; it does not have a distinct anthropomorphic appearance; depictions of moira in ancient art are rare. With the development of Olympic mythology, ideas about one, two or, most commonly, three Moirai became stable. The archaic moirai were considered the daughters of Nyx, who also gave birth to death, sleep, Nemesis, Eris and the Hesperides.

With the spread of weaving among many peoples (Hittites, Greeks, Romans), the Moirai took on the appearance of spinners. This is what Homer calls them for the first time in Greek literature. They were thought of as stern old women spinning the threads of fate: Clotho with a spindle in her hand, Lachesis with a measure or scales, Atropos with the book of life and scissors. Breaking the thread means death. The philosopher Plato, transforming popular beliefs, depicts the Moira as the forces of the highest heavenly law and order, women in white robes, with wreaths on their heads, ruling the present, past and future to the music of the celestial spheres. He calls them the daughters of the goddess Ananke (“necessity”), who turns the world’s spindle.

Over time, the goddesses acquire personal names; these are three divine sisters - merciless rulers of fate, who do not accept appeals from people and are not subject to the gods:

Lachesis, “the giver of lots,” is responsible for the past; she assigns lots even before a person’s birth and monitors its fulfillment. Lachesis, as it were, unwinds and passes through the adversities of life, the vicissitudes of fate, through the entire life of a mortal man, the thread that Clotho spins for each fate. It is impossible to break the lot; all the gods help to fulfill it.

Her sister Clotho, the “spinner,” the moira of the present, spins the thread on which the events of the present time in human life are strung.

Atropos and the moira of the future, “inevitable”, inevitably brings a person’s future closer and cuts the thread of human life with scissors, thereby breaking it off.

The relationship between the Moirai and the Olympian gods is quite complex. As a result of the archaism, the gods, despite their power, also obeyed the Moirai and did not know what they were destined for; fate, which knew no pity, also ruled over them. Thus, Zeus, wanting to know the dictates of fate, weighs the lot of human lives on golden scales.

However, there is a version of the myth according to which the Olympian Zeus was the father of the moiras born

At first, the fate of a person was considered to be contained in a certain object: it was enough to destroy it - and death immediately overtook the victim. For example, this happened to Meleager, a participant in the Argonauts’ campaign and the initiator of the Calydonian hunt. His fate was hidden in a log from the hearth: it was predicted that as soon as it burned out, Meleager would leave the world of the living. Subsequently, the concept of fate changed. They began to believe that it was in charge of individual deities who had their own personalities and inexorably monitored the fulfillment of the destined.

The Moirai are the ones ancient greek goddesses who control the embodiment of rock. According to various legends, there were from one to four, but the most common myth tells of three sisters spinning the threads of fate. In the case of Meleager, in order to keep the hero alive, it was enough to keep the log intact. But when the Moirai took a permanent place in the divine pantheon, the situation changed. From now on, no actions of people could change the course of predetermined events and prevent the fulfillment of fate.

Moiras: names of sisters

Each of the three goddesses was responsible for their own area of ​​work:

• Lachesis (Lachesa)- Fate itself, which gives the lot and monitors its fulfillment; responsible for the past;
• Clotho- A spinner directly working on spinning the thread of fate; considered the goddess of the present;
• Atropos (Atropa, Aisa)- Inevitable, cuts the thread, ending the life of a mortal in due time; relates to the future.

The “distribution of labor” among the Moiras is very clear. Lachesis measures the length of the thread and winds it on a spindle, Clotho spins it, Atropos cuts it. The three moiras never challenge each other's rights and always fulfill their duties accurately. They are relentless and incorruptible. Most often, sisters were considered old women, less often - young girls. Sometimes they were described as women of different ages, where Lachesis is the youngest and Atropos is the oldest.

Moira: attributes of goddesses of fate

The objects that the three sisters owned are directly related to their occupation. Moira in ancient times Greek mythology traditionally were endowed with the following property:

1. Scroll. It recorded the fates of all living in the world, even the immortal gods. Nothing could change what was written down - Lachesis strictly followed this.
2. Spinning wheel. The device was necessary for spinning thread. Its owner is Clotho.
3. Scissors. They symbolize both the whole (two connected parts) and separation (the ability to cut). Birth and death, life and non-existence. Atropos picked up the scissors to break the thread.

Sometimes scales are mentioned among the attributes of Moira. But they are more suitable for Nemesis - the daughter of Nyukta and the goddess of retribution, punishing for violation of moral standards. It is with the help of scales that she determines whether a person is guilty. The Moirai have no use for such a thing: they already know the truth about any event, and their indifferent attitude towards others leaves no room for the scales to swing.

Where did the Moirai live?

There are many versions regarding the permanent residence of the goddesses of fate. But mostly Moira settled:

• On bright Olympus. Such a dwelling corresponds to the high status of the three sisters, who, according to one myth, were the daughters of Zeus, the supreme god, and Themis, the goddess of justice. Their father was also called Morius; he knew what the Moirai had destined and to whom. Sometimes God personally weighed the lot on the scales, wanting to know the answer of fate.
• IN deep cave. The trinity is often called the daughters of Nyukta - the night, which also gave birth to the Erinyes, goddesses of revenge. Moira and Erinyes are allies and sisters. According to another version, the spinning goddesses were the children of Ananke, who personifies fate and is responsible for the inevitability. In both cases, the place where the Moirai lived was called a remote cave in an impenetrable thicket. No one could get there without permission.

According to legend, moirai sometimes leave their home. For example, Lachesa was present next to Leto at the birth of Artemis and Apollo. Sisters always come to the cradle of a newborn to determine the fate of the child. You cannot eavesdrop on the words of the goddesses and spy on them: they prefer to remain in secret. Some tried to appease the Moira. To do this, they left money, wine and three pieces of bread at the baby’s bed in the evening. An offering that has disappeared by morning is a sign of a long and happy life baby.

Moiras and parks - is there a difference?

Culture Ancient Greece became a nutritious source for the development of traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. In fact, almost everything was “borrowed,” but under new names and sometimes in a slightly modified form. The ancient Greek moirai also found refuge among the ancient Roman gods. Have their functions changed? No. Roman moirae simply became known as parks. They were also considered goddesses of fate, controlling everything that happens in the world. The parks received the following names:

• Decima - corresponds to Lachesis, determines fate;
• Nona - does the work of Clotho, spins the thread;
• Morta - took over the functions of Atropos, ending her life.

Moiras and parkas look the same. They are described as either young maidens or ugly old women. Sometimes each parka is at its own age: Decima is the youngest, Nona is the middle one, Morta is the older sister.

Moiras and Grays: different facets of ideas about life and death

In ancient Greek mythology there is another trinity of sisters - the Grays. They are sometimes mistakenly called moirai; This misconception is explained by the following factors:

1. Same number and identical family ties. Three sisters are the most common association for goddesses of fate. However, the Grayas also fit this characteristic.
2. Appearance. Moira are often depicted as elderly. The Grays have always been considered ugly ancient crones.
3. Possession of information about fate. Both the Moiras and the Grays are privy to the secrets of the inevitable and know about the future.

But if the spinners are directly involved in “production,” then the second trinity of prophetic sisters have no control over fate. With their power, the Moiras cover three main intervals - past, present and future, while the Grays are “stuck” in the last stage of the cycle of earthly existence. They are the personification of old age and decay. Grays have proper names, most often cited in the literature:

• Dino (Deino) - Wasp, responsible for trembling;
• Porfredo (Pemfredo, Pefredo) - Storm, there is alarm in her area of ​​​​responsibility;
• Enyo - Malice, associated with horror, is sometimes considered a companion of the warlike Ares.

The Graias were born from the union of Phorcys (the god of miracles and the stormy sea) and Keto (the goddess depths of the sea and the monsters that live there). Among the sisters' relatives are gorgons. Grays are easily recognizable by the following characteristics:

1. They have one eye for everyone and use it in turns.
2. They have only one tooth, which they also have to share with each other.
3. They are born immediately gray.

While the moiras are busy with their peaceful “craft,” the grays guard the gorgons. It was with them that Perseus had to deal, who came to kill the Gorgon Medusa. He stole an eye and a tooth from his sisters by deception, demanding magical objects in return. The deal was a success - the Gorgon was killed. Any deity somehow connected with fate aroused interest and respect.

Moiras are goddesses who instilled awe in the hearts of people. People came to Corinth to venerate the sisters, where a temple was built in their honor. Despite the trinity belonging to ancient Greek mythology, their image is still used in art: the archetype of eternal spinners remains in demand in the modern world.

Since ancient times, people have been confident that their lives are guided from above. Almost all nations had goddesses of fate. They worshiped them, tried to get their support, to grab happiness by the tail. It's interesting to look at what they are from the point of view modern man. Their characteristics clearly demonstrate the fears and hopes of our common ancestors. Let's get acquainted with the beliefs of different peoples.

Greek goddess of fate

In pagan beliefs, it was customary to share supreme power; it was not given to one deity. The Greeks have more than one goddess of fate. These are the Moiras - certain entities that did not even obey Zeus. Scientists are still arguing about their true essence, and ordinary people believed that they could not escape from their tenacious hands. Exactly what is predicted will happen. Moira was considered a dark force. They brought hardships and trials into life. Only rare favorites received gifts from the goddess of fate. In ancient Greece, sacrifices were made to appease the heavenly inhabitants. Plato, speaking about the Moirai, called them sisters who weave the threads of existence. One rules over the past, the second - over the present, the last is subordinated to the future. This trio sits at the wheel of fate and spins the threads on which people are suspended. No one can break these ties. The ancient Greeks gave civilization such a concept as fate, that is, inevitability. According to their beliefs, it is impossible to escape fate; it will definitely overtake the rebelling poor fellow. Have you tried to resist?

Roman goddesses of fate

This ancient people passed on to his descendants a more optimistic view of the world. Their Fortune has now become a household name. The Romans were sure that fate is changeable, it is not static, like the Greeks. Attract good luck to yourself and you will prosper; scare away happiness and troubles will strike. This is a completely different view of the universe, not so painful. Maybe that's why he's more popular in modern society. Millions of people are now fighting for Fortune's favor. Moreover, all sorts of schools teach how to attract the gaze of this goddess of fate and keep her attention: psychological, esoteric, financial, and so on. Probably, in marketing they do not talk about the goddess herself, but the idea is fully exploited. The Romans gave humanity self-confidence. Unlike the Greeks, they did not hand over everything in existence to higher beings, leaving the individual a chance to influence their lives. Fortune was and is now known for her capricious disposition, impulsiveness and frivolity. They say that she has a woman's face and character. However, you can get along with this goddess of fate, but the Moirai only had to obey.

Scandinavian myths

Norns are goddesses of fate. There are three of them, just like the Greeks. Each is responsible for its part of time: Urd is the past, Verdani is the present, Skuld is the future. According to the beliefs of the Scandinavians, these divine entities cannot influence destinies, they only read them. Sometimes they give a person a sign of danger. The goddesses of fate live at the source of Urd and take care of the tree of the universe. Every morning begins with the fact that they sprinkle moisture on its roots, thereby maintaining the existence of the universe. It was believed that the Yggdrasil tree is the essence of the universe. If it dies, then life will cease altogether. The ancient Scandinavians did not ask for the mercy of the norns, but sought communication with these goddesses. From them, if you tried, you could learn about what was destined. And now there are all sorts of fortune telling based on such a legend.

Great mother of the Slavs

Our ancestors had a completely different attitude towards fate. According to their beliefs, the goddess cannot be evil or submit to dark forces. The word “Makosh” comes from the merger of “ma” and “kosh”. The first particle denotes the mother of all people, the second - fate. Its essence lies in caring for people, it does not supervise them, but helps solve pressing problems, and tenderly takes care of them. The goddess of fate among the Slavs lives in heaven. She has assistants, with whom she looks after her charges. They sit in heaven and spin the threads of fate, giving them to every person. Makosh is also considered the mistress of nature. She, as the Slavs believed, was able to make the land fertile, help grow a large harvest, produce offspring, and so on. They honored her every month. By the way, Makosh was respected by the people and did not cause fear, which distinguishes the goddess from her foreign comrades. You can argue with your mother, prove that you are right, or even disobey sometimes, but you cannot help but respect her for her kindness and wisdom.

Conclusion

We very briefly became acquainted with the characters of the deities born of the imagination of various peoples. But this is enough to start talking about how people differ from each other. Today's generations are the fruit of yesterday's traditions. It is impossible to quickly change what people have believed in for thousands of years. But we live in a global world, the planet has become very small, peoples are interdependent. And we have to make peace and find common ground. And of no small importance in solving this difficult problem is understanding where our deepest views come from.

Fate still has great importance for a person's worldview. Even in our technological and scientifically based world, a person has to admit that not everything can be predicted and organized. There remains that very element of fate that can turn a person’s whole life upside down and direct it in an unexpected direction. What can we say about a man of the past who did not have such rich applied tools as modern medicine, science, service sector and so on. Fate for ancient man had an undeniable divine character and supernatural origin. So it is quite natural that in various cultures there were goddesses of fate, personified embodiments of an inexplicable fate.

"Three maidens by the window…"

The classic option for Indo-European mythology and pagan religion is the option with three goddesses of fate. The Greek goddesses of fate set the cultural standard, which was subsequently repeated many times in the religious systems of other peoples and has survived to this day. The Moirai, goddesses of fate, were perhaps the most controversial characters in the ancient Greek system of Olympian deities. Various ancient authors (and ideas about ancient Greek paganism and the religious picture of the world have reached us mainly through artistic and philosophical texts) were never able to come to a consensus regarding the nature of the moira. According to some interpretations, these goddesses were the independent embodiment of divine predestination and, as such, were not subordinate to other deities. Moreover, the gods were also obedient to fate and even the supreme thunder god Zeus himself could not order anything to the Moirai.

According to another version, the goddesses of fate in Greek mythology still obeyed the gods and changed the fates of people depending on the orders of the same Zeus. In this case, the three Moirai - Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos - were the daughters of Zeus and Themis, the goddess of justice. Thus, faith in fate was expressed as an expression of the highest justice, which gives everyone what they deserve. In the first version, the moiras are powerful, neutral and impartial goddesses; in the second, their role was relegated to a kind of technical personnel, carrying out changes in the fate of this or that person given from above.

The Moirai were especially revered in the everyday religious consciousness of the ancient Greeks precisely because the Hellenes believed that these goddesses weave the thread of the destiny of each individual person. Clotho spun the thread, that is, she was responsible for the birth of a person; Lachesis measured out this thread, ensuring the flow of life; Atropos cut the thread with sharp scissors, ending human life.

From Greece to Scandinavia

The Romans, having captured Hellas and adopted the more developed and sophisticated ancient Greek culture, transferred religious content to their civilizational soil. As is known, the Olympic pagan religious system was adopted in Ancient Rome virtually unchanged. Only a formal replacement of the names of the deities and some decorative external transformations were carried out. The moira goddesses also moved from Greece to Rome, only changing their names at their new place of residence, turning from moiras into parks. The park goddesses began to be called Nona (the goddess who spins the thread of human life), Decima (the goddess who winds the thread) and Morta (the goddess who cuts the thread and determines the moment of human death).

Moreover, the three goddesses of fate survived ancient civilization, the decline of Hellas and the fall of the Roman Empire. You can also find them in the Middle Ages, in the religious mythology of Scandinavian and Germanic ethnic groups. According to the Scandinavian epics, at the roots of the world tree Yggdrasil, which is the core of the universe, there live three women-norns, personifying the three phases of time and capable of determining the fate of not only individual people or gods, but also the entire world.

The sorceress Urd personifies the past and appears in the form of a decrepit old woman. The sorceress Verdandi represents the embodiment of the present time, the moment in which everything happens and takes on meaning - she is a middle-aged woman. The sorceress Skuld is the future, so it is natural that she looks like a young girl. Norns in German-Scandinavian mythology do not strive to come to the fore: however, if the gods, including Odin, want to know the future or receive important advice, they go specifically to these sorceresses.

Three goddesses or one: fate is still unpredictable

The divine embodiment of fate can be not only in a trinitarian form, but also in a single form. So, in addition to those adopted from the Greeks three park In ancient Rome, another goddess was revered, who had the function of determining the future. Fortuna, the goddess of fate among the Romans, was so popular among writers and philosophers that her name became a household name and retained its meaning for more than two thousand years. True, unlike the parks, which more or less retained their impartial character, Fortuna was perceived primarily as the goddess of luck. This meant that this goddess could be appeased with lavish sacrifices and praises in order to attract good fortune to her side. True, Fortune was considered a very capricious and flighty goddess, quickly and for inexplicable reasons replacing anger with mercy - that’s why everyday luck was so short-lived.

Scientists argue about the origin of the cult of Fortune. According to some experts, it has ancient Indo-European origins and existed in Italy even before the rise of Rome as an agricultural religious holiday. Other historians point out that Ancient Greece also had a goddess of luck, Tyche, with similar functions and character. Tyukhe appeared in Greek mythology very late, only in the 3rd century, and from the very beginning she was not so much an independent goddess as a divine personification of a happy accident, not amenable to any, including religious, logic. There is a possibility that the cult of Tyche was borrowed by the Romans along with other cultural elements and took shape in the form of the worship of Fortune.

There were female deities of fate in other civilizational eras, both earlier and later compared to antiquity. For example, in the ancient Egyptian pantheon there was the goddess Hemsut, who patronized every person and led him through life in accordance with the fate that was destined for him. Hemsut was perceived as a wise and kind goddess who sought to protect people from adversity - a kind of “genius” among the ancient Romans and a “guardian angel” in the Christian worldview. The Semitic peoples, including the Arabs, also had a goddess of fate before the emergence of Islam - her name was Manat and she was considered the daughter of the supreme god.

Alexander Babitsky