Dans l’entourage de Thémis : les Moires et les ‘normes’ panthéoniques

The Moirai, goddesses who assign the fate or “share” that will come to each person, are closely connected, in ancient Greece, with the sphere of themis. The double genealogy of Hesiod, which makes the goddesses at once primordial deities born from Night and daughters of Themis, fully integrated into the cosmos of Zeus, illustrates the formidable complexity of their realm. With their sisters, the Horai, they ensure that everything that has been established happens and that it happens at the established moment. But just like Themis, they also support the dynamic aspect of the norm and of the “share”. As powers of distribution, compensation and regulation, the Moirai are tightly linked with the stability guaranteed by the sovereign authority of Zeus. By looking at Themis’ entourage from this perspective, it is possible to better understand the relationship between sharing and “normativity” and to perceive the rules organizing the ordering of life and society, in the case of mortal men, but also in the case of the immortal gods.