F is for the Fates and the Furies

I couldn't choose between the Fates and the Furies for this post, so I decided to write about both :)
John Singer Sargent [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The Fates (also known as Moirai) had the power of deciding each man's destiny. They chose whether he would be good or evil, and decided how long he would live. There are three Fates: Klotho, who spins the thread of life; Lakhesis, who measures the length of life; and Atropos, who cuts the thread of life.
The three Fates appeared as ugly old women, sometimes lame. Zeus, as the god of fate, was their leader, though the Fates are old and pre-date the gods, and it is speculated that they controlled the fate of the gods, as well as lower beings.

The Furies (also known as Erinyes) were three netherworld goddesses who avenged crimes against the natural order, particularly patricide and matricide. They emerged from drops of blood spilt when the Titan Cronus castrated his father Uranus.
The Furies were servants of Hades and Persephone in the Underworld, where they watched criminals being tortured in the Dungeons of the Damned. The Furies were often described as being entwined with serpents, with blood dripping from their eyes. In human form, they appeared in long black robes or in short skirts and boots.

Comments

  1. Ermie6 April 2013 at 10:44

    I remember learning about the Furies in Latin at school and thinking they were a great idea - wouldn't want to mess with them though! ;-)

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  2. Nick Wilford6 April 2013 at 13:19

    More fascinating mythology. The Furies were certainly fearsome. (Don't worry, I'm in an odd mood and trying to fit in F words wherever I can today!)

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  3. Rob Z Tobor6 April 2013 at 14:43

    As good as ever Miss Laura well done, I'm sure I saw one of those Furies yesterday..... See you on Monday with the letter G

    I kill everyone off on Monday . . . . . . .HAH AHH AH hah hah hahah ha

    Rob Z Tobor

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  4. loverofwords6 April 2013 at 16:55

    Enjoyed reading about the Furies and looking forward to reading more.

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  5. Outcast6 April 2013 at 17:05

    I've heard of the Fates before and I find the concept of them incredibly interesting and something that I can easily use my imagination to envision, great post Laura, glad you included both in the end.

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  6. Mark Murata6 April 2013 at 18:09

    It's interesting that among the Olympian gods, the male gods like Zeus were certainly dominant. But when certain principles that even the Olympian gods could not gainsay were embodied, they tended to be females.

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  7. Mark Means6 April 2013 at 18:26

    Very cool! I've heard of the Fates before, but never of their individual names.

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  8. Jackie7 April 2013 at 00:29

    The Furies sound so creepy!

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  9. Mina Lobo7 April 2013 at 02:09

    It's my belief that the Furies were gorgeous gals, extracting justice from an unjust world. The Greek fellas, however, didn't care for their chicks being powerful and whatnot and made monsters of them. It's a theory, anyway. :-)
    Some Dark Romantic

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  10. Salvwi Prasad7 April 2013 at 07:46

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. Salvwi Prasad7 April 2013 at 07:51

    Interesting post for me. new information infact. Honestly I did not have any knowledge about this. Looking forward for more.

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  12. Arlee Bird7 April 2013 at 10:53

    People back then had some imagination, but some of them may have had way too much time on their hands to be thinking up this stuff. Did any of them really believe any of it?


    Lee
    A Faraway View
    An A to Z Co-host blog

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  13. Unknown7 April 2013 at 19:20

    I love your theme! This is so interesting to me. And that last line just cracked me up...they either appeared in long black robes or in short skirts with boots. So they were either monks or go-go dancers. Love it. Great post! Learned something new today.

    Karen

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  14. Unknown8 April 2013 at 02:17

    Great information. I love it.

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  15. DWei8 April 2013 at 05:27

    The Furies sound like some variation of the modern symbol of death.

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  16. Bevimus9 April 2013 at 21:26

    The furies are ripe with imagery for horror stories, I will have to remember them...

    ReplyDelete

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