Editing Destiny (section)

==Fate==
[[File:Alphonse Mucha - Fate.jpg|thumb|''Fate'', by [[Alphonse Mucha]]]]
Although often used interchangeably, the words [[wiktionary:fate|''fate'']] and ''destiny'' have distinct connotations. The earliest known mention of the term or its meaning is found on a document written in cuneiform script that reports on the mythical [[Tablet of Destinies (mythic item)|Tablet of Destinies]]. It probably refers to a political treaty between three groups of Sumerian gods (cf. the [[Atra-Hasis|Epic Athra Hasis]]), whereby only the leader has the power to restore the things he once determined to their original state.

Todays traditional usage defines fate similar: as a power or agency that predetermines (rules) the attributes of a thing or set of events positively or negatively affecting someone or a group. Other possibilities are that of an [[idiom]], to [[Fortune-telling|tell someone's fortune]], or simply the result of chance and events. In [[Hellenistic civilization]], the chaotic and unforeseeable turns of [[chance (philosophy)|chance]] gave increasing prominence to a previously less notable goddess, [[Tyche]] (literally "[[Luck]]"), who embodied the good fortune of a city and all whose lives depended on its security and prosperity, two good qualities of life that appeared to be out of human reach. The Roman image of [[Fortuna]], with the wheel she blindly turned, was retained by Christian writers including [[Boethius]], revived strongly in the Renaissance, and survives in some forms today.<ref>"[[Rota Fortunae|The Wheel of Fortune]]" remains an emblem of the chance element in fate(destiny).
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