The Greek Moirai are daughters of Zeus and Themis. They allot the share of life for mortals at their birth: Clotho, the spinner of the thread of human life, holds a spindle; Lachesis, the allocator of good and bad fortunes, is shown with a scroll and a globe; Atropos, the terminator, holds a scissors, a scale, or draws a lot.
The Romans associated the Moirai with their native goddesses, the Parcae (the Child-bearers) or Fata (those who have spoken), who wrote down each human destiny at the end of the infant's first week of life.