Medea

Her name literally means ‘planner, schemer.’ (This becomes relevant later, trust us!)

In Greek mythology, Medea is the daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis (modern-day Georgia, the country). She was also the granddaughter of the sun god, Helios. She was a niece of Circe, an enchantress goddess. Her mom may have been Idyia. This divine lineage gave her “golden eyes” & a terrifying intellectual capacity. She was wicked smart.

In most stories, Medea is known as a sorceress, an accomplished pharmakis, a worker in pharmakeia (medicinal magic), & is often depicted as a high-priestess of the goddess Hecate.

To the Athenians, Colchis was the edge of the known world. Medea represented the “Eastern” woman: dangerous, knowledgeable in “pharmaka” (drugs/magic), & unbound by Greek social norms. Medea was a priestess of Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, crossroads, & the underworld.

She first appears in Hesiod’s Theogony around 700 BC. But is best known from Euripides’ 431 BCE Medea & Apollonius of Rhodes’ 3rd century BC epic Argonautica.

In the myth of the Argonauts, she helps Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece. She was struck by Eros (often pictured as the interference of Hera & Aphrodite), Medea betrays her dad, & kills her brother, to help Jason. To ensure Jason’s (& the Argonauts) escape, she unalives her own brother, Apsyrtus, scattering his remains in the sea so her dad would have to slow down to collect the remains for burial.

This act marked her transition from a domestic princess to a woman who’s “burned her bridges” to the world of men. ONce Jason finishes his quest, she abandons her homeland of Colchis & flees westward with Jason. Medea then marries Jason. She & Jason have at least 2 sons together.

They live in Corinth. Jason abandons Medea to marry the daughter of King Creon of Corinth, named Creusa/Glauce. He did this for political gain, after 10 years of marriage to Medea. Medea is then exiled from Corinth by King Creon.

She was offered asylum in Athens by King Aegeus. This asylum is given after Medea offers the king to give him an heir by using her magic. In some stories, it’s Medea who’s King Aegeus’ baby mama. But Medea wasn’t happy at being rejected by Jason after he made a vow to Hera to love Medea, & be only hers, forever.

This is where Medea’s divine lineage comes into play. Her “Sophia” (wisdom/cleverness) turns deadly. Medea decides the only way to truly destroy/hurt Jason is to unalive their 2 sons & his new bride (who is unalived by a poisoned crown/robes/dress).

Medea weighs her “thymos” (passion/rage) against her “bouleumata” (plans), & the rage wins. She did this so Jason would be without heirs or a legacy for the rest of his life. She didn’t even let Jason hold the bodies of their 2 dead sons, so that he could properly grieve.

Medea wasn’t punished for her actions. Her grandpa, the sun god Helios, sent a chariot pulled by dragons to rescue her. She escaped Athens, carrying the bodies of her children, leaving Jason a broken man.

Or according to Herodotus (in his Histories) mentions that she ended up leaving Athens & settling among the Aryans, who ended up changing their name to the Medes.

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Moirai

In ancient Greek religion & mythology, the Moirai (a.k.a. in English as the Fates) were the personification of destiny.

There were 3 sisters named: Clotho, who was the spinner; Lachesis, who was the allotter; & Atropos, who was the inevitable, a symbol for death. Their Roman equals are the Parcae.

The Moirai’s role was to make sure that every being, mortal & divine, lived out their destinies. For mortals, this destiny went their entire lives & is pictured as a thread spun from a spindle. A spindle is the thing that Sleeping Beauty touched to become Sleeping Beauty.

Usually, they were considered to be above even the gods, in their role as enforcers of Fate. Zeus was even scared of them. Even though, in some stories, Zeus is able to command them. But these are rare.

The word Moirai (also spelt Moirae or Moerae) comes from Ancient Greek. This means “lots, destinies, apportioners.” It also means a portion, or lot of the whole.

In Dante’s Divine Comedy, the Fates are mentioned in both Inferno & Purgatorio by their Greek names. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the Weird Sisters (or 3 Witches) are prophetesses, who are deeply rooted in both the real & supernatural worlds.

The Moirai are:

• Clotho, the spinner. She spun the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle. Her Roman equal was Nona (“the 9th”), who was originally called upon in the 9th month of pregnancy.
• Lachesis, the allotter or drawer of lots. She measured the thread of life allotted to each person with her measuring rod. Her Roman equal was Decima (“the 10th”).
• Atropos, “inexorable,” or inevitable,” literally “unturning.” She was the cutter of the thread of life. She chose the manner of each person’s death. When their time has come, she would cut their life-thread with her shears. Think about the end of Disney’s Hercules, when our main man, Herc, went to save Meg from Hades’ domain. Herc’s life-thread turned gold when he saved. Her Roman equal was Morta (“the dead one”).

In the Republic of Plato, the 3 Moirai sing together with the music of the Seirenes. Lachesis sings the things that were, Clotho the things that are, & Atropos the things that are to be. Pindar, in his Hymn to the Fates, holds them in high honor. He calls them to send their sisters, the Hours (Eunomia, “lawfulness”; Dike, “right”; & Eirene, “peace”), to stop the internal civil strife.

In the Theogony, Hesiod describes the Moirai as daughters of the primeval goddess Nyx (“night”), & the sisters of the Keres (“the black fates”), Thanatos (“death”), & Nemesis (“retribution”). Later in the poem, Hesiod instead calls them daughters of Zeus & the Titaness Themis (“the Institutor”), who was the embodiment of divine order & law. This places them as sisters of the Hours.

In the cosmogony of Alcman (7th century BC), first came Thetis (“disposer, creation”) & then simultaneously Poros (“path”) & Tekmor (“end post, ordinance”). Poros is related to the end of all things.

Later, in the Orphic cosmogony, first came Thesis, whose ineffable nature is unexpected. Ananke (“necessity”) is the primeval goddess of inevitability who is entwined with the time-god Chronos, at the very beginning of time. They represented the cosmic forces of Fate & Time. They were sometimes called to control the fates of the gods. The 3 Moirai are daughters of Ananke.

In the Theogony of Hesiod, the 3 Moirai are personified as the daughters of Nyx & are acting the gods. Later they were daughters of Zeus & Themis, who was the embodiment of divine order & law. In Pluto’s Republic, the 3 Fates are daughters of Ananke (necessity).

The Moirai were supposed to appear 3 nights after a kid’s birth to determine the course of its life. At Sparta, the Temple to the Moirai stood near the communal hearth of the polis. Polis means “city” in Ancient Greek.

As the goddesses of birth who even prophesied the fate of the newly born, Elieithyia, the ancient Minoan goddess of childbirth & divine midwifery, was their companion.

The Erinyes, a group of chthonic goddesses of vengeance, served as tools of the Moirai. Chthonic means concerning, belonging to, or inhabiting the underworld. They inflicted punishment for evil deeds, particularly upon those who sought to avoid their rightful destiny. The Morai were confused with the Erinyes, as well as the death-goddesses, the Keres.

In earlier times, they were pictured as only a few, or perhaps only 1, individual goddess Homer’s Illiad speaks generally of the Moira, who spins the thread of life for men at their birth. She’s Moria Krataia, “powerful Moira,” or there are several Moirai.

In the Odyssey, there’s a reference to the Klothes, or spinners. At Delphi, only the Fates of Birth & Death were revered. In Athens, Aphrodite was called Aphrodite Urania, the “eldest of the Fates.”

In the older myths, they’re daughters of primeval beings like Nyx (“night”) in Theogony, or Ananke in Orphic cosmogony.

The Moirai could be placated as goddesses. Brides in Athens offered them locks of hair, & women swore by them. They may have originated as a birth goddesses & only later their reputation as the agents of destiny. The Moirai were also credited to be the inventors of 7 Greek letters – A, B, H, I, T, & Y.

The Fates had at least 3 known temples: Ancient Corinth, Sparta, & Thebes. The temple in Sparta was situated next to the grave/tomb of Orestes.

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𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜’𝗺 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: "𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗴𝗼𝗻𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 & 𝗗𝗮𝘆𝘀" 𝗯𝘆 𝗛𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗱 -

Going way back now, one of Greece's earliest poets with the earliest versions of the Greek creation along with didactic verse of right behavior.

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The cosmos holds its breath. Cronos stands ready, the sickle gleaming in his grip.
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Cronos stands poised, sickle in hand. ⚔️
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Cronos now holds the blade. ⚔️
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In the caverns of Earth, Gaia forged the blade of rebellion.
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⚖️ From blood… came justice.
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