The Fates/Moirae
Emily Harris
Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), The Fates Spinning Marie’s Destiny (1622-5), oil on canvas, 394 x 153 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris.
In The Fates Spinning Marie's Destiny by Peter Paul Rubens, the three fates, initially called the Moirae, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos (Morford 132), are depicted sitting below Zeus and Hera. They are used as the avatars," An icon or figure representing a particular person in video games, internet forums, etc." ("Avatar English Definition and Meaning."), of King Henry IV of France and his wife Marie de' Medici. Marie de' Medici commissioned this piece in 1621 to decorate the Luxembourg Palace in Paris, and it was finished between 1622-25. The painting now hangs in the Louvre in Paris (Hoakley). This piece employs three tools to display the power of this royal couple; composition, the intentional leaving out of symbols, and avatar choice. The piece's composition is used to put the King and Queen on a pedestal. Their symbolic position of being above the fates represents their real-world power. Rubens leaves out the fates' most common symbol, shears, to cement the idea that King Henry IV and Marie de' Medici are above fate. Finally, the choice to make King Henry IV's and Marie de' Medici's avatars Zeus and Hera reinforces the idea of their power and influence.
The composition of this piece is used to display the power of King Henry IV and Marie de' Medici. The fates Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, symbolize different life aspects. Clotho is the start of life, depicted as spinning the thread of fate. Lachesis measures the thread, thus determining life spans. Finally, Atropos uses her shears to cut the thread of life and ends that cycle (Morford 132). In Greek mythology, the fates determine mortals' destinies and life spans ("Fate."). So, placing King Henry IV as Zeus and Marie de' Medici as Hera above the fates is symbolic. It states that they are above fate and traditional mortal constraints. The idea that the king and queen are above fate is reinforced through Rubens's intentional leaving out of the fates' most iconic symbol, their shears.
The fates are often depicted in art with Atropos's shears. The Greeks believed that "A person's fate is predetermined and inescapable" (La Fond 16:17-16:22), and the fates' shears are a symbol of that fact. However, in The Fates Spinning Marie's Destiny, the fates are depicted without shears. As Marie de' Medici commissioned this piece, the absence of the shears is meant to suggest "the Queen's relative immortality" (Hoakley). Although this idea also extends to King Henry IV because he is also portrayed in this piece as above the fates while they are without their shears. The lack of shears represents the Fates' lack of power over the queen and king.
Another aspect of the piece that represents the king's and queen's power is their avatars. Rubens depicting King Henry IV as Zeus and Marie de' Medici as Hera further cements the royal couple's power in this piece. Zeus and Hera are the king and queen of the gods (Morford 117). They are the supreme rules, particularly with Zeus being able to defy the fates (La Fond 16:26-17:36). So having Zeus and Hera be King Henry IV's and Marie de' Medici's avatars is symbolic of the royal couple's supreme power at the time. The depiction of the king and queen not only as gods but also as the supreme ruler gods makes the goal of this piece clear, to put the royals on a pedestal. This piece making the queen and king equal to Zeus and Hera represents how the royal couple was seen as just as powerful as gods.
The piece's focus on the power of King Henry IV and Marie de' Medici is to be expected from its time. Kings in the 1600s, particularly King Henry IV, ruled on the idea of absolutism. Absolutism is "a system in which all sovereignty resides in the king; he does not share power and has no real partners in rule" (Fix). This political ideology is the foundation for The Fates Spinning Marie's Destiny. Rubens's symbolism in this piece cemented the idea of the king's and queen's absolute power.
Neha Chand
Hans Buldag, Fates, 1513, The British Museum, London, Print 218 x 151mm, Showcasing the Fates with Clotho sitting on the far left holding the thread of life, Atropos standing in the middle cutting the thread, and Lachesis on the far right holding the spool.
https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/the-fates/
In Hans Buldag’s Fates, the Fates are depicted to be holding and cutting the thread of life. Buldag’s depiction of the fates as bare chested, elder women, and variably faced reflects how the fates were originally birth spirits. The Fates are often depicted as three elder women responsible for the destiny of every individual with the handling of the thread of life (Morford et al. 132). The three Fates, daughters of Zeus and Themis, are bowed to by Zeus himself due to their responsibility over destiny. In Greek mythology, women are looked as villainous and as objects so to see Buldag’s depiction of the fates in this piece shows them as a feared depiction of destiny. Buldag’s portrayal of each of the sisters reflects the ancient Greek ideology surrounding women.
Each sister is their own individual being but are normally regarded as one, The Fates (“The Fates”). Clotho is the eldest sister, sitting on the farthest left, she holds the thread of life being known as “the spinner” (“The Fates”). The thread is a delicate matter of the life/destiny of an individual and it represents the time a person spends on Earth. Buldag depicts Clotho bare-chested with large breasts which resembles a lactating mother. This depiction of Clotho represents how she can use her powers to decide life or death for a certain individual since she is the holder of the actual thread (“The Fates”). Buldag depicts Atropos in the middle, standing up with a very vastly different cynical face compared to her sisters cutting the thread. Atropos, the eldest sister, plays the role in calling death upon a certain individual by cutting the thread with her shears. She is regarded as “She who cannot be turned” because she does the irreversible deed of ending the life of a person (“The Fates”). Buldag’s depiction of her as an almost daunting figure plays into the theme of the villainous views on women in Greek culture. Lachesis is seen to be sitting at the far right and is shown to be measuring the thread. In measuring the thread, she is determining the life span of an individual (“The Fates”). Each sister has their own independent task and all collectively determine the life of an individual, even all powerful beings.
Buldag’s distinct depiction of Atropos compared to her sisters displays how she is “unturnable” (Morford et al. 132). Clotho and Lachesis are both bare-chested and given soft facial features with Lachesis smiling as well. Clotho and Lachesis can be influenced to alter fate but the course of destiny that they measure and spin out is irreversible. Atropos performs a task that cannot be taken back, ending the life of a being which makes her be perceived to be someone villainous. Hesiod’s myth depicts women and labor as evils (La Fond 5:30-5:40). Buldag’s depiction of Atropos does reflect that ancient Greek viewpoint surrounding women. The Fates are feared in ancient Greek mythology so Buldag’s depiction of them reflects the viewpoint surrounding women.
Works Cited
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Fix, Andrew C. “The History of France: The Road to French Absolutism.” The Great Courses Daily, 6 Oct. 2020, https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/the-road-to-french-absolutism/.
Hoakley. “The Story in Paintings: The Thread of Fate.” The Eclectic Light Company, 10 Apr. 2016, https://eclecticlight.co/2016/04/11/the-story-in-paintings-the-thread-of-fate/.
La Fond, Marie. “Destination Olympus: Introduction to the Olympian Gods” Greek and Roman Myth. University of Washington, January 2022, https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1514816/pages/lesson-2-video-lectures?module_item_id=14661571, Accessed 1 Feburary 2022
La Fond, Marie. “Rise of Man, Rise of Woman: Prometheus and Pandora'' Greek and Roman Myth. University of Washington, January 2022, https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1514816/pages/lesson-2-video-lectures?module_item_id=14661571, Accessed 10 Feburary 2022
Morford, Mark, et al. Classical Mythology. 11th ed., Oxford UP, 2019.
“The Fates- Facts and Information on the Goddess the Fates.” Greek Gods & Goddesses, Mediavine Food , 4 Feb. 2022, https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/the-fates/.