The myth of the three grim reapers and the mysteries of death

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The myth of the three grim reapers talks about destiny and death. The Greater Grim Reaper personifies death itself. The lesser reaper, interestingly, is also the inventor of the alphabet, along with Hermes. In one way or another, the alphabet, used in writing, is a way to defeat death.

The myth of the three Fates, or the three Fates, is one of the most enigmatic and, at the same time, allegorical of antiquity. Both the Greeks, the Romans, the Germans and the Norse have similar stories about it.. It can be said that, in one way or another, this myth has influenced several traditional beliefs and religions in the West.

The myth of the three grim reapers says that these beings decided destiny of every human being not only in life, but beyond death. The three were sisters and resided in Hades, for the Greeks, and Avernus, for the Romans. From there they decided what would happen to each inhabitant of the world.

Although the myth of the three Fates became more popular than that of the three Fates, the content is the same in both cases. Also in both cases They are represented as three women dressed in a white tunic and sporting an indifferent and imperturbable countenance..

“Like a sea, around the sunny island of life, death sings night and day its endless song”.

-Rabindranath Tagore-

The myth of the three grim reapers: the origin

The myth of the three grim reapers says that these were daughters of Themis, a titanic woman who represented justice and balance.. However, other versions point out that both the Fates and Themis sprang up at the same time from the springs of the Ocean.

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Some classical authors point out that the father of the three reapers was Zeus himself, but the most accepted version is that they were daughters of Moor, or Moors. This was the personification of Fate, luck and damnation. It is said that he was born long before Zeus, so the latter feared him, since More was the only one with power over him.

More was the son of Nyx, the primordial goddess of the night, who in turn came from Chaos. More’s father was Erebus, primordial god of darkness and shadows, who filled all the holes and corners of the world with his presence.

More was one of the “dark gods”, along with his brothers Thanatos (death), Hypnos (sleep), Oniros (the tribe of dreams) and the Keres (spirits of violent death).

The Fates

The myth of the three Fates says that the primary function of these sisters was to enforce the destiny of men, following the precepts of their father More. All of them were present from birth and they were weaving the events of life until death.

According to their age, the names of the Fates were Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. Clotho was the youngest and was in charge of spinning the destiny of men on a spinning wheel.. She was the one who decided whether a person could be born or not, that is why in Rome she was invoked in the ninth month of pregnancy and was called “Nona”.

Lachesis, for her part, decided on the length of life of each person. It was she who determined what length the thread that Clotho wove should be. She is represented as a matron who unrolls a long paper on which the destiny of each human being is written.

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Finally Atropos is the reaper itself. She was the older sister and the bearer of “hateful scissors” with which she cut the thread of life. When she did so, death occurred. She also decided what type of death each person should have.

The threads of life

The myth of the three reapers says that these ladies They appeared three days after each birth and that was when they decided the fate that each person would have.. They could not only define the destiny of mortals, but also that of the gods. They wrote the latter on bronze walls.

The threads of life were of three colors: white, black and gold. The white threads corresponded to events that had no major significance; the black threads, to moments of affliction and pain; and the golden threads represented the happiest moments in the lives of mortals. Clotho was in charge of interweaving the different types of thread as More dictated.

The most feared of the Fates was the eldest, Atropos, who was also known as “Morta” or “The Inflexible.”. He did not respect age or social status or character. In all cases he used his dangerous scissors, after killing, to attract the soul of the deceased to Avernus through the Styx. The latter was a river that flowed into hell.