Wednesday, November 29, 2006
the fates
The Goddess of Necessity, Themis, brought forth three lovely daughters, known as the Moirai (Fates). All living things must eventually submit to these divine daughters of Zeus and Themis. Their names are: Koltho (Clotho), Lakhesis (Lachesis) and Atropos.
Klotho spins the thread of life, Lakhesis determines the length of the thread and Atropos cuts the thread when the proper time has come for death. They are also called the Moirai to denote their descent from Moira, the original goddess of Fate. They are not to be confused with the Furies, who are the daughters of Nyx (Night). They laugh at our feeble attempts to cheat them because they always prevail. They are also known as the Moiras or Keras.
They are often confused with the Roman goddesses, the Morae.
for more go to: messagenet.com/myths/bios/fates.html
Klotho spins the thread of life, Lakhesis determines the length of the thread and Atropos cuts the thread when the proper time has come for death. They are also called the Moirai to denote their descent from Moira, the original goddess of Fate. They are not to be confused with the Furies, who are the daughters of Nyx (Night). They laugh at our feeble attempts to cheat them because they always prevail. They are also known as the Moiras or Keras.
They are often confused with the Roman goddesses, the Morae.
for more go to: messagenet.com/myths/bios/fates.html
# posted by mattm @ 2:15 PM 
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I think this is allegorical because the Pequod is doomed by fate and like in Mapple's sermon, the sinners will be punished by a whale.
its like what jessica said, maybe moby dick is like Lakheis deciding the length of life and Atropos deciding the death. Agreeing with Emily Ahab definitly should have listened to the Jerobaums captain. It seems that the crew of the pequod are going to get killed for sure.
All of these conjectures seem logical.
Another possibility, and this is almost literally mentioned in the mat-maker (ch 47), is that each man makes his own destiny with his choices. It seems that the three main forces guiding these choices though are chance, free will and necessity (maybe a connection also; three fates three guides).
Anyways it said in the beginning that each man basically starts a new life by heading out to sea. This could represent the first fate by beginning your life as a whaler.
Ahab the second fate decides the time you get in life by taking your free will from you as you become a whaler.
And finally Moby Dick takes the form of the third fate by becoming the grim reaper and deciding your time of death.
The three fates: you, Ahab, and Moby Dick.
Of course all this is just hypothesizing.
Another possibility, and this is almost literally mentioned in the mat-maker (ch 47), is that each man makes his own destiny with his choices. It seems that the three main forces guiding these choices though are chance, free will and necessity (maybe a connection also; three fates three guides).
Anyways it said in the beginning that each man basically starts a new life by heading out to sea. This could represent the first fate by beginning your life as a whaler.
Ahab the second fate decides the time you get in life by taking your free will from you as you become a whaler.
And finally Moby Dick takes the form of the third fate by becoming the grim reaper and deciding your time of death.
The three fates: you, Ahab, and Moby Dick.
Of course all this is just hypothesizing.
More on The Fates: Lachesis sings of the things that were, Clotho of those that are, and Atropus about the things that will be. They are most honored among the gods because they distribute justly, and have a share in every home. They give men at their birth their share of evil and good, and they punish the transgressions of both men and of gods.
This also shows how Moby Dick relates to the Fates because he punished people like Ahab for their acts of transgression. Ahab is trying to defy Moby Dick, and like we said in class, messing with Moby Dick is like messing with God, and only bad things happen when you mess with God.
This also shows how Moby Dick relates to the Fates because he punished people like Ahab for their acts of transgression. Ahab is trying to defy Moby Dick, and like we said in class, messing with Moby Dick is like messing with God, and only bad things happen when you mess with God.
Impressive. Emily, re: being killed by the slap of the whales tail-Whalers called the raised whales tail the "Hand of God"...
Also remember that before they even boarded the Pequod, Elijah the prophet warned Ishmael and Queequeg about joining the crew and the voyage they were about to go on. Could this also be related to the fates, this foreshadowing "prophecy?"
(Sorry this is so late, I just got home)
I took a mythology class last year and the version of the Fates that I heard was three women who were blind and had to pass around an eye to see what was going on. So they decided what happened to other people but couldn't even see everything that was going on and didn't have complete control of the situation so if someone was smart enough they could trick them. I thought of Ishmael of how he would think about something and even if it was unrealistic or impossible sounding he did it any way...like a teacher to a whaler. He didn't let the Fates decide for him he pushed through whatever was in the way to acclompish what he wanted.He didn't just go through life with whatever happened he chose for himself what he wanted.
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I took a mythology class last year and the version of the Fates that I heard was three women who were blind and had to pass around an eye to see what was going on. So they decided what happened to other people but couldn't even see everything that was going on and didn't have complete control of the situation so if someone was smart enough they could trick them. I thought of Ishmael of how he would think about something and even if it was unrealistic or impossible sounding he did it any way...like a teacher to a whaler. He didn't let the Fates decide for him he pushed through whatever was in the way to acclompish what he wanted.He didn't just go through life with whatever happened he chose for himself what he wanted.
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