PRIMORDIAL DEITIES - ANANKE

ANANKE

Ananke depicted as a winged woman.

Ananke is a primordial deity who represents inevitability, necessity and compulsion. Her name means “force, constraint, or necessity”. She along with her consort Chronus (Time) or Aion (Eternity) marked the beginning of the Universe according to the Orphic Hymns. The OrphicCosmogony depicts her as a serpent who along with her consort entwined the Cosmic Egg of matter. When they put pressure on the egg it split into the basic elements of the universe, the sky, earth, and sea. Although some Orphic Hymnsclaim it was Nyx who took the form of a serpent along with Aion as opposed to Ananke. She along with Chronus (Time) or Aion (Eternity) encircled the universe after its creation. It not only drives the rotation of the universe but also symbolises the eternal passage of time.

Ananke has been dubbed the mother of the Moirai and as such is depicted with a spindle. It is believed that she is the only one who can influence the decision of the Fates and by extension the fates of man and gods. This is the reason why both gods and men paid her homage and respected her. Despite not playing a  major role in mythology, she was apparently a force to be reckoned with and even the Gods didn’t fight against Ananke.

Although she did not have any cults, she was worshipped alongside Bia, who represents violence or violent haste at a temple in Corinth.

She was the enforcer of bonds and compulsions as such it was believed that the whole mortal world was her realm, as no man is free from bondages. A “Free Man” is a myth. She was often called upon when people wanted to enforce bonds. For Ananke a bond went both ways. The best example to illustrate this philosophy is that of a prisoner and his guard. While a prisoner is bound to stay in prison as a punishment of his crimes, and by extension is bound to his guard, the guard is also bound to the prisoner by way of his duty. Ananke enforces both kinds of bonds. Every bond from that of marriage to friendship, or oaths taken, all of it came under the purview of Ananke.

She is usually represented as a winged woman. Often times she has been depicted as carrying a torch. As such her symbols came to be the torch and the spindle.

Although most sources believe her to be self formed at the beginning of time along with her consort Chronus or Aion, the Orphic Fragments state that she was born of Hydros and Gaea.

Ananke sitting above the Moirai (Fates)

The different Orphic Hymns believe that she along with Chronus or Aion gave birth to Chaos, Aether, Phanes, and Erebos. Some sources also state that she was the mother of the Moirai (the Fates).

She is sometimes associated with Aphrodite. It was believed that they were the two aspects of the same power that dictates life in the Universe. She was also a part of the Roman pantheon of gods, and her counterpart was called Necessitas.

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