Atropos

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Atropos is cited by Dante in a passage from canto XXXIII of the Inferno, spoken by the damned friar Alberigo. In the dialogue with Dante, the friar states that his soul is already damned as a result of a pact made with a devil who attends to his person, «innanzi ch'Atropòs mossa le dea», that is, before the Fate grants the signal for his departure from the body, that is, before the natural moment of death arrives. The commentary note on the verse specifies that Atropos is, among the three Fates, the one who cuts the thread of life. The graphic form «Atropòs», with the accent on the final o, is attested in the Dantean verse. Dante knew the classical myth of the Fates and employed it as an image of the natural end of existence, set in contrast to the case of Alberigo, whose soul has already plunged into the lake of Cocytus while his body remains still animated by a demon.