Nor shall he meanwhile suffer any evil or harm, until he sets foot upon his own land; but thereafter he shall suffer whatever fate and the dread spinners spun with their thread for him at his birth, when his mother bore him. — Homer, Odessey, Book 7, 193, translated by A. T. Murray
It does seem safe to say that the connection between 'spinning a thread' and mortality was well established in Homer. One example: — Paine
Homer speaks of Fate (moira) in the singular as an impersonal power and sometimes makes its functions interchangeable with those of the Olympian gods. From the time of the poet Hesiod (8th century BC) on, however, the Fates were personified as three very old women who spin the threads of human destiny. Their names were Clotho (Spinner), Lachesis (Allotter), and Atropos (Inflexible). Clotho spun the “thread” of human fate, Lachesis dispensed it, and Atropos cut the thread (thus determining the individual’s moment of death). — Britannica - Fate - Greek and Roman mythology
The discussion of Homer translations is interesting. But I need to stay focused on the architecture of mortality and a surprise plumbing malfunction. — Paine
Is this a daimonic determination of destiny. A web being spun. — Amity
Socrates is presented as receiving instruction from his diamon at particular times. Those moments are not presented as unavoidable fate. It sounds more like thinking for oneself. — Paine
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