Heimarmene
Heimarmene (Ancient Greek: Εἱμαρμένη) is a goddess and being of fate/destiny in Greek mythology (in particular, the orderly succession of cause and effect, or rather, the fate of the universe as a whole, as opposed to the destinies of individual men). She belongs to a family of similar beings of destiny and fate, which have given us various modern concepts (such as Aesa, Moira, Moros, Ananke, Adrasteia and Pepromene).
Etymology
Heimarmene's name is an ontological description of how she was seen. It is speculated to be a participial form of the Greek verb μείρεσθαι (meiresthai, meaning "to receive as one's lot"), which is derived from the same root as Moira ("fate"). It is likely that both are correct.
Other uses
The term "Heimarmene" (personified or not) is also widely used in the Greek Stoic tradition, the Gnostic religion (such as in the Pistis Sophia manuscript), and other obscure religious sects.
References
Inline citations
Sources referenced
- http://stoicspirit.blogspot.com/2007/05/cosmology-of-ancient-stoa.html
- http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Moirai.html
- http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/1478.html
- The Moirai/Moirae (The Fates)
- Cosmology of the Stoa
- Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, v. 2, page 370
- Greek and Roman religion: a source book
- Physics of the Stoics, by Samuel Sambursky