Decima (mythology)

This article is about the Roman goddess. For other uses, see Decima.

Decima on the right measuring the thread of life near the other Parcae

Decima was one of the three Parcae (known in English as the Fates) in Roman mythology. ^[1] The Parcae goddess Nona was responsible for pregnancy; Decima was responsible for measuring a person's lifespan; and Morta was charged with overseeing death. ^[2] They distributed to mankind all the good and bad things in life, ^[3] and according to some classical writings even Jupiter had to bend to their will. ^[4] Decima measured the thread of life with her rod, ^[5] like her Greek equivalent Lachesis. ^[4] In some accounts, her mother was Nox the goddess of night and her father was Scotus the god of darkness; while in other accounts, her parents were Jupiter and Themis. ^[3]

See also

• Moirai
• Norns

References

Citations

1. Adkins, Lesley; Adkins, Roy A.; Adkins, Both Professional Archaeologists Roy A. (2014-05-14). Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. Infobase Publishing. p. 300. ISBN   978-0-8160-7482-2.
2. Jordan, Michael (2014-05-14). Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses. Infobase Publishing. p. 72. ISBN   978-1-4381-0985-5.
3. Crabb, George (1840). New Pantheon; or, Mythology of all nations. Adapted to the biblical, classical and general reader, but more especially for the use of schools and young persons. James Webb Southgate. pp. 70–71.
4. A Commentary, Mythological, Historical, and Geographical on Pope's Homer, and Dryden's Aeneid of Virgil: With a Copious Index. J. Murray. 1829. p. 429.
5. Rosenthal, Adam R. (2022-02-03). Poetics and the Gift: Reading Poetry from Homer to Derrida. Edinburgh University Press. p. 222. ISBN   978-1-4744-8840-2.

Sources

• Gellius, Aulus. Noctes Atticae, III, 16.
• Tertullian. De Anima, 37.