Greek Mythology/Minor Gods/Fates

The 1885 painting A Golden Thread, depicting the Fates.

The Moirae, or Fates, are three old women who are charged with the destinies of all living beings, including heroes and heroines, and these destinies were represented by a string. They were called Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos.

Clotho would spin the string that represented the life of a living being; Lachesis would measure its length to determine the length of that being's life, and Atropos, the eldest, would cut it when the time was right, thus ending with that being's life.

These three goddesses were thought to be the daughters of Zeus and Themis. This is debatable however. Even some deities were afraid of the Fates. The women might have even been more powerful than Zeus himself. These goddesses appear in many myths such as Perseus, in which they are tricked.