Decima on the right measuring the thread of life near the other Parcae

Decima was one of the three Parcae (known in English as the Fates) in Roman mythology.[1] The Parcae goddess Nona was responsible for pregnancy; Decima was responsible for birth; and Morta was charged with overseeing death.[2] They distributed to mankind all the good and bad things in life,[3] and according to some classical writings even Jupiter had to bend to their will.[4] Decima measured the thread of life with her rod,[5] like her Greek equivalent Lachesis.[4] In some accounts, her mother was Nox the goddess of night and her father was Erebus the god of darkness; while in other accounts, her parents were Jupiter and Themis.[3]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Adkins, Lesley; Adkins, Roy A.; Adkins, Both Professional Archaeologists Roy A. (2014-05-14). Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. Infobase Publishing. p. 300. ISBN 978-0-8160-7482-2.
  2. ↑ Jordan, Michael (2014-05-14). Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses. Infobase Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-4381-0985-5.
  3. 1 2 Crabb, George (1840). New Pantheon; or, Mythology of all nations. Adapted to the biblical, classical and general reader, but more especially for the use of schools and young persons. James Webb Southgate. pp. 70–71.
  4. 1 2 A Commentary, Mythological, Historical, and Geographical on Pope's Homer, and Dryden's Aeneid of Virgil: With a Copious Index. J. Murray. 1829. p. 429.
  5. ↑ Rosenthal, Adam R. (2022-02-03). Poetics and the Gift: Reading Poetry from Homer to Derrida. Edinburgh University Press. p. 222. ISBN 978-1-4744-8840-2.

Sources

  • Gellius, Aulus. Noctes Atticae, III, 16.
  • Tertullian. De Anima, 37.
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