ANANKE

in Greek literature, necessity or fate personified. In Homer the personification has not yet occurred, although even the gods admit they are limited in their freedom of action. Ananke is rather prominent in post-Homeric literature and theological speculation, particularly in the mystic cult of Orphism, but is definitely known to emerge into a cult only at Corinth, where she was worshiped with Bia (Might, or Force). Because of her unalterable nature it was pointless to render to her offerings or sacrificeNothing is stronger than dread Necessity was a Greek byword. In literature she is associated with the nymph Adrasteia, the Moirai (or Fates, of whom she was the mother, according to Plato in The Republic), and similar deities. In Italy she does not appear to have been worshiped at all; the description of Necessitas (Ananke) in Horace's Carmina is purely literary.