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[German version] , the Fates, are the Roman counterpart of the Greek Moirai (Moira). Like the Moirai they were considered to be a triad of prophetic goddesses of fate ( tres Parcae, tres sorores, tria Fata [8. 527f.]) who could act both collectively and individually. Their  individual Latin names  - Nona (‘ ninth’), Decima (‘ tenth’) and Parca ( ‘midwife’, < parere ‘to give birth’) - indicate that by origin they were birth goddesses (Varro in Gell. NA 3,16,9ff.; Tert. De anima 37,1). Nona and Decima refer to children born at nine or ten months of gestation,…

(Οἰδίπους/ Oidípous, Lat. Oedipus). [German version] A. Oedipus in myth and drama O., son of King Laius [1] and Iocasta/Epicasta, is the central figure in the Theban myths [7; 16. 492ff.; 28]. The name O. has a meaning ('swollen foot') that can be interpreted in different ways [5; 10. 233ff.]. The myth explains the name with the motif of O.'s ankle, which was pierced at the time of his abandonment (Soph. OT 1032ff.; Eur. Phoen. 26f.; Apollod. 3,5,7: Exposure, myths and legends of). O.'s patricide and incest…

(Ζεύς/ Zeús, genitive Διός/ Diós). [German version] I. Name and identity Chief Greek god of the heavens As the chief Greek god of the heavens, patriarchal 'father of gods and men' (Hom. Il. 1,544) and the embodiment of rule, justice and omnipotence, Z. stands at the head of the Olympian family of gods (Twelve (Olympian) gods). His symbols include the eagle, bundle of lightning or thunderbolt and sceptre [32. 30-32]. As the 'highest' god both with regard to his residence and his position, he bears the epithets Hýpatos [7. 202 f.] and Hýpsistos in literature and …

(Μοῖρα; Moîra). [German version] A. Fate As a generic noun, moira in singular and plural refers to the part of a whole, e.g. the personal ‘share’ of land, booty, sacrificial meat and life ( moîra biótoio or bíou) [5; 13; 17]. Starting with Homer, the singular also refers to the existential limits that all mortals face, especially to the fate apportioned to each person at birth [4]. Etymologically related are móros (fate, death), mór(s)imos (destined) und heimarménē (fate; < meíromai, to get one's portion, to have one's share [1. 8ff.]); according to these terms, human fate…