The Parcae (from Latin: Parcae, derived from the word parco, meaning “to spare”) are, in Roman religion or Roman mythology, the master deities of human destiny, from birth to death. They are generally depicted as weavers measuring the lives of individuals and cutting their fate. According to the writer Jacques Lacarrière: “they symbolize the evolution of the universe, the necessary change that dictates the rhythm of life, and imposes the existence and inevitability of death.”
Origin
Initially, the Romans knew only one Parca, Parca Maurtia, symbolizing destiny, as well as a goddess called Neuna Fata, associated with birth, which would “transform” over time into the Parca Nona. Under the influence of the Greek Moirai, who presided over birth, the course of life, and death, the Romans adopted the idea of three Parcae.
The three Roman Parcae are equivalent to the three Greek Moirai (Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos), the three Scandinavian Norns (Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld at the foot of the tree of life, Yggdrasil), the three pre-Islamic Goddess-Mothers (Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat), the three Brigits of Irish mythology (three sisters: Brigit the healer, Brigit the blacksmith, and Brigit the poetess), the Trémaïé of Baux-de-Provence, and the three Maries (Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome, and Mary Jacob) at the foot of the cross-tree in the synoptic gospels.
Mythology
The Parcae are three sisters, Nona, Decima, and Morta. Their origins are unclear; according to various versions, they are the daughters of Jupiter (Zeus) and Juno (Hera), or Jupiter (Zeus) and Themis, or Night (Nyx, the night), or, according to some poets, of Necessity (Ananke) and Fate. The obscurity of their birth indicates that they have exercised their fatal functions since the origin of beings and things; they are as old as Night, Earth, and Sky.
They are named Nona, Decima, and Morta (the Latin transposition of the Greek Moirai Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos), residing in a place near that of the Horae (Hours), their possible sisters, in the Olympian regions, where they watch over not only the fate of mortals but also the movement of celestial spheres and the harmony of the world. They have a palace where the destinies of men are engraved on iron and bronze, so that nothing can erase them. Immutable in their designs, they hold the mysterious thread, a symbol of the course of life, and nothing can sway them or prevent them from cutting its weave. However, they did calm the grief of Ceres (Demeter), afflicted by the loss of her daughter, and aid Jupiter (Zeus) in his battle against the giants.
Roles and Representations
The ancients portrayed the Parcae as three women with stern faces, adorned with crowns made of narcissus flowers. Others gave them crowns of gold; sometimes a simple band encircled their heads; rarely did they appear veiled. Pausanias and other ancient authors crowned them with branches of green oak, a plant with evergreen foliage often symbolizing permanence and immutability between life and death.
The Romans bestowed great honors upon the Parcae (and the Greeks upon the Moirai), usually invoking them after Apollo because, like this god, they could foresee the future. Black sheep were sacrificed to them, similar to the Furies (Erinyes).
These divine and tireless spinners not only had the function of unraveling and cutting the thread of destinies, but also presided over the birth of humans. They were even tasked with guiding heroes who dared to enter Tartarus into the light and bringing them out. They served as guides to Bacchus (Dionysus), Hercules (Heracles), Theseus, Ulysses, Orpheus, and others. It was also to them that Pluto (Hades) entrusted his wife when, following Jupiter’s (Zeus) order, she returned to the sky to spend six months with her mother. Ultimately, they were to “respect” destiny. For example, it was the Parcae who prevented a deity from aiding a hero when his “time” had come. They embody a law that even the gods cannot violate without jeopardizing the order of the world.
Names and Roles
- Nona – or Clotho for the Greeks – meaning “to spin” in Greek, appears to be the youngest of the Parcae. She is the one who crafts and holds the thread of human destinies. She is often depicted in a long robe of various colors, wearing a crown formed of seven stars and holding a spindle that descends from heaven to earth. The dominant color in her draperies is blue. In the classical era, she is named Cloton in the anglicized form.
- Decima – or Lachesis for the Greeks – a name that means “fate” or “the act of drawing lots” in Greek, is the Parcae who unravels the thread and puts it on the spindle. Her garments are sometimes sprinkled with stars, and she is recognized by the large number of spindles scattered around her. Her draperies are of a pink hue.
- Morta – or Atropos for the Greeks – meaning “inevitable” in Greek, mercilessly cuts the thread that measures the duration of each mortal’s life. She is portrayed as the oldest of the three sisters; near her, several skeins of thread are seen, more or less filled, depending on the length or brevity of the mortal life they measure. The image of the Parcae cutting the thread of life appears late in Latin poetry. It is notably absent in Catullus but appears in Martial and became very popular during the Renaissance.
Demography
Alfred Sauvy refers to the “three Parcae” to denote the three main causes of excess mortality: famines, epidemics, and wars. These three causes tended to disappear in developed countries during the post-war economic boom, ensuring accelerated demographic growth for these nations.
References
In Literature
The Parcae motif has endured since ancient poetry. They are mentioned in nearly all early, high, and late medieval mythographies (Fulgentius, Isidore of Seville, Hrabanus Maurus, Mythographus Vaticanus Primus, Mythographus Vaticanus Secundus, Mythographus Vaticanus Tertius). They also find a place in moral and educational works like Christine de Pizan’s Epistre d’Othéa, where chapters are dedicated to them, portraying them as synonyms of death.
Significantly, in the visual arts, the reimaginings of Francesco Petrarca’s Trionfi by the French poet Jean Robertet are noteworthy. Robertet introduces the Parcae into the Triumph of Death, a detail not present in Petrarca’s original work. Through this route, the Parcae become part of the iconography of the Trionfi. Numerous tapestry series depict the Fates as personifications of death.
In Classical and Early Romantic poetry, the motif regains attention in German literature (Friedrich Schiller: To the Parcae, Johann Wolfgang Goethe: Faust II, Friedrich Hölderlin: To the Parcae, Heinrich Heine: Three women sit by the wayside), and in 20th-century literature, for instance, in Albert Vigoleis Thelen’s Holmgang, and Hans Magnus Enzensberger’s lachesis lapponica. In Thornton Wilder’s play, The Alcestiad, they appear as The Drunken Sisters in the final part, playing a role in setting the preceding tragic events into motion along with Apollo.
The Parcae motif also appears in modern popular literature, with Stephen King incorporating it into his book Insomnia – Sleepless.
In Music
- Jean-Baptiste Lully: Les Trois Parques, Ballet Royal de la Nuit, 2nd part (1653).
- Jean-Philippe Rameau: Trio des Parques, Hippolyte et Aricie, 2nd entry (1733).
- Johannes Brahms: Song of the Parcae, op. 89 for six-voice choir and orchestra, inspired by Goethe’s poem.
- Emerson, Lake and Palmer: The Three Fates (CD: 1970 – Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
In Painting and Sculpture
- Tapestry with the three Parcae, London, Victoria & Albert Museum, uncertain origin: France or Flanders, late 15th century.
- Hans Baldung Grien: The Three Parcae, woodcut, 1513.
- Peter Vischer the Younger: The Dream of Hercules, drawing, Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett.
- Lucas de Heere: Allegory of the Birth of Emperor Charles V, Ghent, Bijloke Abbey.
- Jean Duvet: Entrance image to the Apocalypse, etching.
- Peter Paul Rubens: Entrance image of the Medici Cycle, Paris, Louvre.
- Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem: The Three Parcae, Paris, former art trade.
- Pietro Belotti: The Parze Lachesis, circa 1684, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.
- Johann Joachim Kändler: Table centerpiece with the Parcae for Catherine II of Russia, Oranienbaum Palace near St. Petersburg.
- Asmus Jakob Carstens: The singing Parze Atropos, multiple plaster casts of the lost original, including Frankfurt, Liebieghaus.
- Francisco de Goya: Las Parcas, Madrid, Museo del Prado.
- Johann Gottfried Schadow: Tomb of the Count of the Mark, Berlin, Alte Nationalgalerie.
- Johann Gottfried Schadow: Tomb of Count Blumenthal, Gut Horst, Brandenburg.
- Bernhard Rode: Dedication etching for Berlin physician Johann Carl Wilhelm Moehsen.
- Johann Heinrich Dannecker: Parcae as clock cases, multiple versions, including Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie.
- Christian Daniel Rauch: Candelabrum in the Mausoleum of Queen Luise, Berlin, Charlottenburg Palace Park.
- Bertel Thorvaldsen: Relief with the Parcae, Copenhagen, Thorvaldsen Museum.
- Edwin Scharff: Parze, Edwin Scharff Museum, Neu-Ulm.
- Bernhard Heiliger: The Three Parcae, University of Münster.
- Wolfgang Friedrich (born 1947): 3 Parcae, owned by the artist.
- Martin Mosebach (born 1951): The Beautiful Habit of Living, 1997.
