1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Atropos

ATROPOS, in Greek mythology, the eldest of the three Fates (see Fate). Her name, the “Unalterable” (ἀ- privative, and τρέπειν, to turn), indicates her function, that of rendering the decisions of her sisters irreversible or immutable. Atropos is most frequently represented with scales, a sun-dial or a cutting instrument, the “abhorred shears,” with which she slits the thin-spun thread of life that has been placed on the spindle by Clotho and drawn off by Lachesis.