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DIVINITIES CONCERNED WITH MORALITY

The Moerae or Fates. — The Moerae, whom the Ro­mans called the Parcae, were for Homer the individual and inescapable destiny which followed every mortal being. Only in Hesiod’s Theogony are they treated as goddesses. They were three in number, daughters of Night, and they were called: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. Clotho, the spinner, personified the thread of life. Lachesis was chance, the element of luck that a man had the right to expect. Atropos was inescapable fate, against which there was no appeal. The whole of man’s life was shadowed by the Moerae. They arrived at his birth with Ilithyia. When he was married the three Moerae had to be invoked so that the union should be happy. And when the end approached the Moerae hastened to cut the thread of his life. Hesiod placed them with the Keres, thus giving them the role of divinities of violent death.

The Moerae were submitted to the authority of Zeus who commanded them to see that the natural order of things was respected. They sat in the assemblies of the gods and possessed the gift of prophecy.

Nemesis. --- Like the Fates, Nemesis had at first been a moral idea, that of the inexorable equilibrium of the human condition. Man could displease the gods in two manners, either by offending the moral law -- in which case he incurred their wrath or by attaining too much happiness or riches — in which case he excited their

jealousy. In either ~f these cases the imprudent mortal was pursued by Nemesis, or the divine anger. If he had offended only by an excess of good fortune he might hope to propitiate the goddess by sacrificing a part of his happiness.

Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, was terrified of the un­heard-of luck which followed him, and wished to forestall the jealousy of the gods by throwing into the sea a~ price­less ring of which he was especially fond. But when the ring was returned to him by a fisherman who had found it in the belly of a fish, Polycrates realised that Nemesis had refused to accept his sacrifice and that unhappiness was in store for him. And, indeed, it overtook him shortly afterwards.

Nemesis later became a goddess with more definitely defined personality, and various genealogies were ascribed to her. According to some she was the daughter of Oce­anus. According to others she was born of Night and Erebus, in which case she was a deadly power. But when Dike was made her mother she became an equitable divin­ity. She was, however, always responsible for seeing that order was maintained. One of her titles was Adrasteia

the Inevitable. She is sometimes depicted with a finger to her lips --- suggesting that silence is advisable in order not to attract the divine anger. The principal sanctuary of Nemesis was at Rhamnus, a small town in Attica. There was a statue of the goddess there which Phidias carved from the marble which the Persians, rashly count­ing on victory in advance, had brought with them be­fore the battle of Marathon, expecting to erect a trophy with it.

Tyche, Ate, Litae. To complete the list of divinities whose functions were moral, we must also mention Ty­che, goddess of fortune. Hesiod calls her the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. She was represented in various ways by various cities which each had its own Tyche. Adorned with the mural crown, she wears the attributes of abundance.

Ate, daughter of Ens or of Zeus, was on the other hand a malevolent divinity who prompted men to irresponsible acts. She led both men and gods into error and aberration. It was she who, when Hercules was born, suggested to Zeus the imprudent vow which caused the hero such subsequent misery. Hence the master of the gods pun­ished the wicked goddess by banishing her permanently from Olympus and ‘from the heights of heaven flung her into the midst of man’s affairs’.

In order to repair the damage done by the treacherous Ate, Zeus sent the Litae after her. The Litae were Prayers and also daughters of Zeus. Wrinkled and lame, they limped after their sister Ate, attempting to mitigate the evils which she caused, and whoever welcomed the Litae with respect was showered with blessings.

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