One in the Iliad

In Homer there was only one Moira, an impersonal fate or destiny . Many of the concepts which later became personified as deities (complete with temples, shrines, offerings and priestly classes) appear in Homer as abstract, though fairly clearly defined, entities. Another group appears to be pre-Olympian, and perhaps pre-Hellenic deities. Remember that Zeus led a coup against the previous order of deities, who then retired to more obscure roles. I don't know the extent to which the "official history" mirrors the demographic movements which occurred at the end of the Mycenean era, but perhaps someone can enlighten us further on this. In any case, there is not always a tidy division of labor nor consistency in the personification for the deities. For some interesting speculations on this see Greene .

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