Editing Moirai (section)

==Zeus and the Moirai==
[[File:Lachesis (Washington, DC).jpg|thumb|upright|Bas relief of [[Lachesis (mythology)|Lachesis]], lampstand at the Supreme Court, [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
[[File:Atropos.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Bas relief]] of [[Atropos]] cutting the thread of life]]

In the Homeric poems Moira is represented as a singular entity whose actions are not governed by the gods. Only Zeus, the chief of the gods, is close to her, and in some cases acts in a similar role.<ref name=Nilsson361 /> Using a [[weighing scale]] Zeus weighs Hector's "lot of death" against that of Achilleus. Hector's lot weighs down, and he dies according to Fate. Zeus appears as the guider of destiny, who gives everyone the right portion.<ref name=Nilsson217>[[Iliad|Ilias]] X 209 ff. O.Crusius Rl, Harisson ''Prolegomena'' 5.43 ff: [[Martin P. Nilsson|M. Nillson]] (1967). ''Die Geschichte der Griechischen Religion. Vol I ''. C.F.Beck Verlag. München pp. 217, 222</ref><ref>This is similar to the famous scene in the [[Culture of Egypt|Egypt]]ian book of the dead, although the conception is different. [[Anubis]] weighs the sins of a man's heart against the feather of truth. If man's heart weighs down, then he is devoured by a monster: Taylor, John H. (Editor- 2009), ''Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: Journey through the afterlife''. British Museum Press, London, 2010. pp. 209, 215 {{ISBN|978-0-7141-1993-9}}
</ref> A similar scenario is depicted on a Mycenaean vase, where Zeus holds a scale in front of two warriors, indicating that he is measuring their destiny before the battle. The belief was that if they die in battle, this was to be accepted as their correct destiny.<ref>M.P.Nilsson, "Zeus-Schiksalwaage ". ''Homer and Mycenea '' D 56. The same belief in [[Destiny|Kismet]]. Also the soldiers in the World-War believed that they wouldn't die by a bullet, unless their name was written on the bullet: [[Martin P. Nilsson|M. Nillson]] (1967). ''Die Geschichte der Griechischen Religion. Vol I ''. C.F.Beck Verlag. München pp. 366, 367</ref>

In ''Theogony'', the three ''Moirai'' are daughters of the primeval goddess, Nyx ("Night"),<ref>[[H.J. Rose]], ''Handbook of Greek Mythology'', p.24</ref> representing a power acting over the gods.<ref name="Hesiod221" /> Later they are daughters of Zeus who gives them the greatest honour, and [[Themis]], the ancient goddess of law and divine order.<ref name="Finley78" /><ref name="Jeffery42" />

Even the gods feared the Moirai or Fates, which according to Herodotus a god could not escape.<ref>[[Herodotus]], 1.91</ref> The Pythian priestess at [[Delphi]] once admitted that Zeus was also subject to their power, though no recorded classical writing clarifies to what exact extent the lives of immortals were affected by the whims of the Fates. It is to be expected that the relationship of Zeus and the Moirai was not immutable over the centuries. In either case in antiquity we can see a feeling towards a notion of an order to which even the gods have to conform. [[Simonides]] names this power Ananke (necessity) (the mother of the ''Moirai'' in Orphic cosmogony) and says that even the gods don't fight against it.<ref>[[Diels–Kranz numbering|Diels-Kranz]]. Fr.420</ref> Aeschylus combines Fate and necessity in a scheme, and claims that even Zeus cannot alter which is ordained.<ref name="Prometh.515">[[Aeschylus]], ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'', 510–518: "Not in this way is Moira (Fate) who brings all to fulfillment, destined to complete this course. Skill is weaker far than Ananke (necessity). Yes in that even he (Zeus) cannot escape what is foretold." [http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Ananke.html Theoi Project – Ananke]</ref>

A supposed epithet ''Zeus Moiragetes'', meaning "Zeus Leader of the Moirai" was inferred by Pausanias from an inscription he saw in the 2nd century AD at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]]: "As you go to the starting-point for the chariot-race there is an altar with an inscription ''to the Bringer of Fate.'' This is plainly a surname of Zeus, who knows the affairs of men, all that the Fates give them, and all that is not destined for them."<ref>The Greek is ''Moiragetes'' (Pausanias, 5.15.5)</ref><ref name="Pausanias, 5.15.5">Pausanias, 5.15.5</ref> At the Temple of Zeus at [[Megara]], Pausanias inferred from the relief sculptures he saw "Above the head of Zeus are the [[Horae|Horai]] and Moirai, and all may see that he is the only god obeyed by Moira." Pausanias' inferred assertion is unsupported in [[cult (religion)|cult practice]], though he noted a sanctuary of the Moirai there at Olympia (5.15.4), and also at [[Corinth]] (2.4.7) and Sparta (3.11.8), and adjoining the sanctuary of Themis outside a city gate of [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]].<ref>"There is a sanctuary of [[Themis]], with an image of white marble; adjoining it is a sanctuary of the Fates, while the third is of Zeus of the Market. Zeus is made of stone; the Fates have no images." (Pausanias, 9.25.4)</ref>