Allotment

Use in the book

Homer’s warrior speech declares that neither coward nor brave can escape his moira once born. The cosmological discussion attributed in its heading to Aristotle explains the name through apportionment, alongside other names interpreted through linkage, limitation, distribution, and inescapability. The first is a statement about a mortal’s assigned end; the second makes the word part of a coordinated interpretation of divine governance.

Places to read

1. I.5.1The allotted fate cannot be escaped after birth.
2. I.5.22aMoira is explained through things having been apportioned.
3. I.49.39.3Different soul descents follow different prior allocations.

Translation in this edition

“Fate” conveys the personal destiny in the verse. “Allotment” keeps the underlying image visible; the ancient wordplay is not presented as a modern proof of etymology.

Differentiated allocations

Diaklērōsis is an allocation or distribution by allotment. I.49.39.3 connects different descents of souls to different prior assignments. The term explains an ordered relation among souls, their recipients, and their descents. It does not in itself establish that the distribution is random merely because the language is related to lots.