1. In Greek Mythology

2. According to Greek mythology, the Three Fates determine how long a person will live. No man or god can change their decision. Some sources say the Fates are daughter of Nyx (night) while others say they are daughters of Zeus, the chief of the gods and Themis, the goddess of justice. They are often pictured as old, ugly women dressed in white robes.

3. Clotho starts a man’s life and spins it into a thread. Lachesis measures the man’s thread of life. Atropos cuts the thread and ends the man’s life.

4. Look at this picture. (click mouse) See Clotho’s rod where the thread of life is starting. (click mouse) See Lachesis measuring how long the life will last with her hands. (click mouse) See how the thread of life ends by Atrophos. This tapestry can be seen at the Albert and Victoria Museum in London, England. http://collections.vam.ac.uk/ite m/O72702/tapestry-the-three- fates-the-triumph/

5. Clotho spins the thread of life. Atropos cuts the thread of life. Lachesis measures the thread of life.

6. Here is what some other people think:  “Fate is for those too weak to determine their own destiny. (K. Hamad)  “Each man is the architect of his own fate.” (A. Claudius)  “We create our fate every day we live.” (Henry Miller)  “Fate chooses our relatives; we choose our friends.” Remember the Greeks believed that life was predetermined, already decided by the Fates. What was going to happen would happen. A person could not change their fate. They will die when it is their time. What do you think? Write three sentences on your worksheet. Can you change your fate? If so, how would you do this? Read these quotations. Pick one of them. Write it on your worksheet. In three sentences, explain what is means below the quotation.