Friday, November 13, 2020

Arachne Myth

 Arachne myth, in short, is a story about the moral value of human life. The story tells how Arachne was turned into a spider after losing to Athena in a weaving contest she had challenged her for. In my opinion it is an interesting fable of Ancient Greece that teaches us many important lessons on the nature of existence and our place in it.

The moral of the story is that we humans are supposed to be humble. We must not challenge the gods, because we will lose and get punished.

It seems that the ancient Greeks were well aware of their place in the world and accepted it. They knew how insignificant they are compared to nature, gods, fate etc.

I don't think that this is a bad thing. The Greeks were content with their humble place and knew better than to go against the flow.

The Greeks did not try to compete with the gods. They believed that they were insignificant and should be humble before their fate.

Unfortunately, I do not have enough information about Ancient Greece to comment on how accurate is the story of Arachne myth.


In the story, Arachne is depicted as a gifted weaver who became arrogant. When she challenged Athena to a weaving contest in which their tapestries would be judged by Helios (the sun god), Athena accepted. The competition was held at Athens in front of King Aegeus and his court, with Zeus presiding over them.

The goddess Athena made a tapestry about the size of a human bed sheet, which depicted the Amazon women in battle. The Amazons were her favorite mortal warriors.

Arachne's tapestry depicted the love affair between Poseidon and Aphrodite. According to the myth, Zeus' wife Hera became very jealous of their relationship.

When the contest was over, Zeus laughed at both tapestries and chose Athena's. Arachne became so upset that she hanged herself.

Athena took pity on her and changed Arachne into a spider. The goddess then made it so that the four legs of every spider corresponded to what was depicted in Arachne's tapestry: one leg bore the image of Zeus, another pictured Aphrodite, and so forth.


What is a spider? A creature that has eight legs, fangs to inject poison into its prey, and silk which it weaves for a web. It shows intelligence in building such an intricate structure as well as cunning in evading enemies. However what if the Arachne myth were true? What if the goddess Athena was misinformed about how spiders really behave?

The Arachne myth portrays the spider as a trickster. The goddess Athena, who had conquered many monsters and beasts of legend, came across this new beast. Misinformed by her followers that it was a trouble maker, she took great offense that anyone would think to challenge her in battle. One does not question the wisdom of Athena.

The spider, seeing this imposing figure before it, attempted to flee. However Athena was swift and chased the creature into a cave where she trapped it with her spear. The goddess then approached the spider and asked if it had any last words before its death.

The spider, realizing its fate, responded that it was not a beast of war. It had never been aggressive towards the goddess or her followers. It submitted to death at Athena's hands.

Athena, seeing that the creature was not a threat, dropped her weapon and began to converse with the spider. She asked why it built such an elaborate web.

The spider responded that the web was for catching food and that it could eat as much as it needed to survive. It had no need for more material things in life.


Arachne (Ancient Greek: Ἀράχνη, IPA: [aːrǎˈʧnɛː]) is a goddess in Greek mythology. Arachne was the daughter of Idmon of Colchis and Lathria, the nymph who bore Linus by Apollo. In Metamorphoses, Ovid describes her weaving skills against Athena's and she lost to their contest that turned her into a spider as punishment for her claims of superiority.

Arachne is a type of spider in the family Araneidae, although it was originally said to have been from Phrygia. In Greek mythology, she boasted about her skills in weaving and challenged Athena. She lost the contest with Athena and was turned into an arachnid as punishment.

Arachne is also the name of a genus of spiders, including Theridion arachnites. The word "arachnid" means 'spider' and comes from the Greek word for spider, which in turn derives from Arachne.

Her story is the subject of a poem by Ovid called Metamorphoses in which he follows her from being an ordinary mortal weaving on her loom, to her transformation into a spider. In this version there are two versions of how Arachne came to be changed into a spider; one from Ovid himself and one written by Hyginus.

According to Ovid, Arachne was the daughter of Idmon of Colchis and Lathria, a Naiad. She boasted about her weaving skills and claimed that her skill was greater than that of Athena. Offended by this challenge to their skill at weaving, Athena took offence at Arachne's claims and set up an

competition. Arachne produced a tapestry which depicted scenes of the gods behaving badly, some involving sexual encounters and others showing them in vulnerable positions.

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