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 sacrifice—“Nothing 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 Book X of Plato’s Republic), and similar deities. In the cosmology of Plato’s Timaeus, necessity (not personified) is the brute facts of nature—i.e., matter—that can be persuaded by reason but not annihilated. In Italy Ananke does not appear to have been worshiped at all; the description of Necessitas (Ananke) in Horace’s Carmina is purely literary. Horace associates Necessitas with Death or Fortune.