Necessitas

Necessitas

Other Names / Variations:	Greek: Ananke; Anankaie, Adresteia
Meaning of Name:	Necessity, Inevitability, Compulsion, Inescapable
Gender:	Female
Origin / Tradition:	Roman (for the purposes of this page)
Time Period:
Attributes / Spheres of Influence:	Necessity, the constraining force of destiny
Major Site of Worship:	Corinth
Name of Major Temple:	n/a
Symbols:	Brazen nails
Appropriate Incense / Fragrances:	n/a
Appropriate Offerings:	n/a
Animals Associated with the Deity:	n/a
Colors Associated with the Deity:	n/a
Plants Associated with the Deity:	n/a
Direction Associated with the Deity:	n/a
Married to:	n/a
Children:	- Khoas, Aither, Phanes (by Khronos) (Orphic Argonautica 12) - Khoas, Aither, Erebos (by Khronos) (Orphic Fragment 54) - The Moirai (Plato Republic 617C)
Parents:	- None, she and her mate Khronos (Time) were the first beings to emerge at the beginning of time - Hydros (or primeval Okeanos) & Thesis (or primeval Tethys) (Orphic Fragment 54)
Miscellaneous:

Basic Information / General Synopsis:

Necessitas: The Roman goddess of necessity who was seen as the personification of the constraining force of destiny. She was identified with the Greek goddess Ananke, who was also a personification of destiny. (h)

Necessitas, called Ananke by the Greeks, the personification of Necessity, is represented as a powerful goddess, whom neither gods nor men can resist. She carries in her hand brazen nails, with which she fixes the decrees of fate. (2)

Necessĭtas (Anankê). A goddess regarded as superior even to the gods themselves, since she represented the Inevitable. At Corinth there was a [p. 1085] temple dedicated to Anankê and Bia (Force), which no one was permitted to enter (Pausan. ii. 4, 6). Among the Romans her symbol is the nail, as fixing fast the decrees of Fate. See Hor. Carm.i. 35 Carm., 17. (3)

Mythos:

Additional Imagery

Resource List - all entries are taken verbatim from the original source:

(2) "A Smaller Classical Dictionary of Biography, Mythology, and Geography." William Smith D.C.L. & LL.D.

(~) http://www.theoi.com/Khaos/Ananke.html A variety of miscellaneous information was taken from this site and used with permission.