Clotho
Clotho or Klotho, is a mythological figure. She was one of the Three Fates or Moirai. In ancient Greek mythology, she spins the thread of human life while her sisters draw out and cut the thread. She is generally considered the youngest of the three Fates, although in some later sources, such as Giovanni Boccaccio’s Genealogia Deorum Gentilium, she is described as the eldest among the Moirai. She also made major decisions, such as when a person was born, thus in effect controlling people's lives. This power enabled her not only to choose who was born, but also to decide when deities or mortals were to be saved or put to death. For example, Clotho resurrected Pelops when his father killed him. Her Roman equivalent is Nona.
As one of the three fates, her influence in Greek mythology was significant. Along with her sisters and Hermes, Clotho was given credit for creating the alphabet for their people. Even though Clotho and her sisters were worshiped as goddesses, their representation of fate is more central to their role in mythology. Thread represented human life and her decisions represented the fate of all people in society.
Origin
Although there does not seem to be an epic tale in Classical Greek mythology in which the Fates are the main focus, they have played critical roles in the lives of deities and mortals. It is likely that the versions of myths about their primal origins were lost in the transitions from prehistoric Greek mythology to that of the Classical writings.According to Hesiod's Theogony, Clotho and her sisters were the daughters of Nyx, without the assistance of a father. Later in the same work they are said to have been born of Zeus and Themis. Clotho is mentioned in the tenth book of the Republic of Plato as the daughter of Necessity, as well.
In Roman mythology, it was believed that Clotho was the daughter of Uranus and Gaia.
Dispute of origin
In Genealogia Deorum Gentilium, the Italian Renaissance writer Giovanni Boccaccio wrote that Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos were daughters of Demogorgon. Cicero, however, calls them the Parcae in De Natura Deorum, where he states that they were daughters of Erebus and Night. It seems preferable, however, to follow Theodontius, who affirms that they were created together with the nature of things. Elsewhere, where Cicero speaks of the Parca in the singular, he also calls her the daughter of Erebus and Night. Seneca, in his letters to Lucilius, also calls them the Parcae, citing the saying of Cleanthes: “The Fates lead those who are willing and drag those who are unwilling.” In this, he describes not only their office that is, to guide all living beings but also to compel them, as if all things occurred by necessity. Clotho was responsible for spinning the thread of life, beginning each mortal’s existence.The Ivory Shoulder
As one of the Three Fates, Clotho participated in creating the alphabet with Hermes, forced the goddess Aphrodite into making love with other gods, weakened the monster Typhon with poison fruit, persuaded Zeus to kill Asclepius with a bolt of lightning, and aided the deities in their war with the Giants by killing Agrius and Thoas with bronze clubs.Clotho also used her life-giving powers in the myth of Tantalus, the man who had slain and prepared his son Pelops for a dinner party with the deities. When the deities had discovered what Tantalus had done, they put the remaining pieces of Pelops in a cauldron. Clotho brought him back to life, with the exception of a shoulder that had been eaten by Demeter and therefore, was replaced by a chunk of ivory. Clotho was worshiped in many places in Greece as one of the Three Fates and is sometimes associated with the Keres and Erinyes, which are other deity groups in Greek mythology.
Ariadne is similar to Clotho in that she carries a ball of thread, much like Clotho's spindle.