he seventh, sixth, and fifth, which move together; third in swiftness
appeared to move according to the law of this reversed motion the
fourth; the third appeared fourth and the second fifth. The spindle
turns on the knees of Necessity; and on the upper surface of each
circle is a siren, who goes round with them, hymning a single tone or
note. The eight together form one harmony; and round about, at equal
intervals, there is another band, three in number, each sitting upon
her throne: these are the Fates, daughters of Necessity, who are
clothed in white robes and have chaplets upon their heads, Lachesis and
Clotho and Atropos, who accompany with their voices the harmony of the
sirens--Lachesis singing of the past, Clotho of the present, Atropos of
the future; Clotho from time to time assisting with a touch of her
right hand the revolution of the outer circle of the whorl or spindle,
and Atropos with her left hand touching and guiding the inner ones, and
Lachesis laying hold of either in turn, first with one hand and then
with the other.

When Er and the spirits arrived, their duty was to go at once to
Lachesis; but first of all there came a prophet who arranged them in
order; then he took from the knees of Lachesis lots and samples of
lives, and having mounted a high pulpit, spoke as follows: 'Hear the
word of Lachesis, the daughter of Necessity. Mortal souls, behold a
new cycle of life and mortality. Your genius will not be allotted to
you, but you choose your genius; and let him who draws the first lot
have the first choice, and the life which he chooses shall be his
destiny. Virtue is free, and as a man honours or dishonours her he
will have more or less of her; the responsibility is with the
chooser--God is justified.' When the Interpreter had thus spoken he
scattered lots indifferently among them all, and each of them took up
the lot which fell near him, all but Er himself (he was not allowed),
and each as he took his lot perceived the number which he had obtained.
Then the Interpreter placed on the ground before them the samples of
lives; and there were many more lives than the souls present, and they
were of all sorts. There were lives of every animal and of man in
every condition. And there were tyrannies among them, some lasting out
the tyrant's life, others which broke off in the middle and came to an
end in poverty and exile and beggary; and there were lives of famous
men, some who were famous for thei