View source for Parcae

{{Short description|Fates in Roman mythology}}
[[File:Les Parques.jpg|thumb|''Les Parques'' ("The Parcae," ca. 1885) by [[Alfred Agache (painter)|Alfred Agache]]]]
[[File:Les trois Parques-Marco-Bigio.jpg|thumb|''The Three Parcae'' (1540-1550), by [[Marco Bigio]], in Villa Barberini, Rome]]
[[File:Roscheiderhof quint2 16 DreiParzen H1a.jpg|thumb|Fireback with Parcae]]

In [[Religion in ancient Rome|ancient Roman religion]] and [[Roman mythology|myth]], the '''Parcae''' (singular: '''Parca''') were the female [[personification]]s of [[destiny]] who directed the lives (and deaths) of humans and gods. They are often called the [[Fates]] in English, and their [[interpretatio graeca|Greek equivalent]] were the [[Moirai]]. They did not control a person's actions except when they are born, when they die, and how much they suffer.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fate-Greek-and-Roman-mythology | title=Fate &#124; Greek and Roman mythology &#124; Britannica }}</ref>

The Parcae recorded the metaphorical thread of life of every mortal and immortal from birth to death. Even the gods feared them, and by some sources [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] was also subject to their power.<ref name=":0" />

[[Nona (mythology)|Nona]] was supposed to determine a person's lifespan on the ''[[dies lustricus]]'', that is, the day on which the name of the child was chosen, which occurred on the ninth day from birth for a male and the eighth for a female.<ref>S. Breemer and J. H. Waszinsk ''Mnemosyne'' 3 Ser. 13, 1947, pp. 254–270: on personal destiny as linked to the collation of the ''dies lustricus''.</ref>

The recurrence of the [[nundinae]] was also considered a ''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#festus|dies festus]]'' and as such ''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#nefas|nefas]]'' by some Roman scholars as [[Julius Caesar]] and [[Cornelius Labeo]], because on it the ''[[Flamen dialis#Flaminica Dialis|flaminica dialis]]'' offered the sacrifice of a goat to Jupiter in the [[Regia]].<ref>Macr. ''Sat.'' I 16, 30.</ref>

According to some treatments, the Parcae seem to be more powerful than many, or perhaps even all, of the gods: "The power of the Parcae was great and extensive. Some suppose that they were subjected to none of the gods but Jupiter; while others support that even Jupiter himself was obedient to their commands; and indeed we see the father of the gods, in Homer's Iliad, unwilling to see Patroclus perish, yet obliged, by the superior power of the Fates, to abandon him to his destiny."<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Lemprière |first1=John |title=A Classical Dictionary: Containing a Copious Account of All the Proper Names Mentioned in Ancient Authors; with the Value of Coins, Weights and Measures, Used Among the Greeks and Romans; and a Chronological Table |date=1827 |publisher=Collin & Company |page=580 }}</ref> Similarly: "We have the clearest evidence of the poet for it, that whatever happens to us is under the influence of the Parcae. Jupiter himself can not interfere to save his son Sarpedon."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wieland ( Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown ) |first1=Christoph Martin |title=Lucian of Samosata |date=1820 |page=723}}</ref>

== Names and sources ==
The names of the three Parcae are:
* [[Nona (mythology)|Nona]] (Greek equivalent ''[[Clotho]]''), who spun the thread of life from her [[distaff]] onto her [[Spindle (textiles)|spindle]];<ref name="Conflict With the Dragon and the Sea">John Day, ''God's Conflict With the Dragon and the Sea: Echoes of a Canaanite Myth in the Old Testament'', CUP Archive, 1985, p.&nbsp;308.</ref>
* [[Decima (mythology)|Decima]] (Greek equivalent ''[[Lachesis (mythology)|Lachesis]]''), who measured the thread of life with her rod;<ref name="Conflict With the Dragon and the Sea" />
* [[Morta (mythology)|Morta]] (Greek equivalent ''[[Atropos]]''), who cut the thread of life and chose the manner of a person's death.<ref>L. L. Tels de Jong ''Sur quelques divinites romaines de la naissance et de la prophetie'' 1959, pp. 70–77; 83–85.</ref><ref>P. Ramat "Morta" in ''Archivio glottologico italiano'' 40, 1960, pp. 61–67.</ref><ref>J. H. Waszinsk ''Gnomon'' 34, 1962, p. 445.</ref>

The earliest extant documents referencing these deities are three small [[stelae]] ''(cippi)'' found near ancient [[Lavinium]] shortly after [[World War II]].<ref>G. Dumezil ''La religion romaine archaique'' Paris, 1974, part 4, chapt.</ref> They bear the inscription:

<blockquote>
''Neuna fata, Neuna dono, Parca Maurtia dono''
</blockquote>

The names of two of the three Roman Parcae are recorded (''Neuna'' = Nona, ''Maurtia'' = Morta) and connected to the concept of ''fata''.<ref>L. L. Tels De Jong ''Sur quelques divinites romaines de la naissance et de la prophetie'' 1959 pp. 67–130.</ref>

[[File:Peter Paul Rubens - Sketches - WGA20439.jpg|thumb|''The Three Parcae Spinning the Fate of [[Marie de' Medici]]'' (1622-1625) by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]]]One of the sources for the Parcae is ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' by [[Ovid]], II 654, V 532, VIII 452, XV 781. Another source is [[Aeneid]] by [[Virgil]], in the opening of Book I.

== See also ==
* [[Fates]]
* [[Laima]]
* [[Matrones]]
* [[Moirai]]
* [[Norns]]
* [[List of Roman birth and childhood deities]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Thomas Blisniewski: ''Kinder der dunkelen Nacht. Die Ikonographie der Parzeten Mittelalter bis zum späten XVIII.'' Jahrhundert. Thesis. Cologne 1992. Berlin 1992

== External links ==
* {{Commons category inline|Moirae}}

{{Time in religion and mythology}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Parcae| ]]
[[Category:Roman goddesses]]
[[Category:Time and fate goddesses]]
[[Category:Triple goddesses]]
[[Category:Destiny]]
[[Category:Textiles in folklore]]
[[Category:Personifications in Roman mythology]]