Atropos


Atropos or Aisa, in Greek mythology, was one of the three Moirai, goddesses of and destiny. Her Roman equivalent was Morta.
Atropos was the oldest of the Three Fates, and was known as "the Inflexible One. It was Atropos who chose the mechanism of death and ended the life of mortals by cutting their threads. She worked along with her two sisters, Clotho, who spun the thread, and Lachesis, who measured the length. Atropos has been featured in several stories such as Atalanta and Achilles.

Origin

Her origin, along with the other two fates, is uncertain, although some called them the daughters of the night. It is clear, however, that at a certain period they ceased to be only concerned with death and also became those powers who decided what may happen to individuals. Although Zeus was the chief Greek god and their father, he was still subject to the decisions of the Fates, and thus the executor of destiny, rather than its source. According to Hesiod's Theogony, Atropos and her sisters were the daughters of Erebus and Nyx and sister to Thanatos and Hypnos, though later in the same work they are said to have been of Zeus and Themis.

Medicine

Atropos lends her name to the genus Atropa, of which the poisonous plant Atropa belladonna is a member, and to the alkaloid atropine, an anticholinergic drug which is derived from it.

Herpetology

The scientific name of a venomous snake, Bitis atropos, refers to Atropos.

Entomology

Astronomy

An asteroid 273 Atropos is named after Atropos.