The Fates (aka Moirae, Moirai,Three-Fates)

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   Who are the Fates?

• Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, "spinners" of destiny. Descibed by some sources as "old demonic hags", the Fates determine life's events and are considered by the gods to be extremely fair.

   How did they come to be?

•  Their parentage is quite disputed; most agree the Fates are the daughters of Zeus and Themis.
• Some, however, claim they are the children of Nyx (night), or Chaos ^[2]

   Why should we care?

•   Because, THEY CONTROL OUR FUTURES!!!!!
•   The Fates' job is to "spin the thread of human destiny", so to speak.
•   3 days after every newborn is born, the three fates appear at their doorstep, ready to spin the child's destiny thread.
•   Clotho is responsible for spinning the thread, while Lachesis is responsible for using her great staff to measure out the correct length of destiny thread per person. Atropos, often considered the "best" sister, is responsible for what we all dread; she cuts the thread, therefore ENDING A LIFE!! For more detail on each sister's job, see the "Breaking it Down" section:)
• When the Fates spin a thread of destiny, it is not 100% "set in stone." Zeus (daddy!) still has the power to save someone from a fate of certain death. But for the most part, the gods don't interfere with the Fates and respect their fairness.

(see footnote #2 for source.)

      Breaking it down                                            

•     Clotho (or Klotho), who's name means "Spinner", has the job of spinning the thread of destiny (signifying birth.) She is often refered to the most, and is symbolized by a spindle (for more information, see "Symbols") Clotho is the youngest sister out of the three daughters. In Delphi, Only she and her sister Atropos are worshipped (Fates of Birth and Death.)
•     Lachesis uses her rod to measure the thread, determining life's events and the length of one's life. She is often symbolized by the very rod that constitutes her job. 
•     Atropos, the smallest yet the most feared, uses her "abhorred shears" to cut the thread when the time is right (signifying death.) She is often depicted as the eldest sister, and the most grave.  ^[3]

     What are some symbols?  

• Often when refering to the Moirae (or Clotho particular) people use spindles as a symbol.
• Measuring staffs are sometimes used to represent Lachesis, and Shears for Atropos. ^[4]

     If they're so important, tell us a story about them!   

     Well, The Fates (no matter how much one might argue) are never wrong. One of their jobs was to visit the home of every newborn baby 3 days after they had been born^[5], so Clothos could determine their fate. So, as usual, they were present 3 days after the Greek hero Meleager was born. Clotho predicted Meleager noble, Lachesis courageous, but almost immediately Atropos picked out a log from the fire and proclaimed, "He will live only as long as this brand remains unconsumed!" (Hyginus Fabule 171.) Naturally, this frightened his mother to pieces. She quickly doused the log and hid it away in a chest so it would be safe.

     Unfortunately, Meleager's father forgot to provide offerings to the goddess Artemis (oops!) so she sent a giganitc, horrendous boar to terrorize the village. To aid him in defeating the "mighty beast", Meleager chose Atalanta, a female hunter (who Meleager happened to fancy.) During the battle, Atalanta struck the boar fist, drawing blood, but it was ultimately Meleager who slayed the beast. But being the nice guy he is, Meleager gave the skin to Atalanta anyway, since she injured the boar first. This made his uncles quite angry, as he had given the prize of the slain boar to a mere woman! In the ensuing arguement, Meleager killed his two uncles. This made his mother so angry that she ended up taking the log out of hiding and throwing it into the fire herself, thus killing Meleager and fulfilling the Fates' prophecy.

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Meleager(right) presents the boar's head to Atalanta(left)^[7]