The Story of Arachne
Arachne was a young woman from Lydia, sometimes said to be a
princess, who offended Athena and suffered the consequences. Her
story helped serve as a warning to all to take care to not offend
the gods.
Arachne was gifted in the art of weaving. Not only were her
finished products beautiful to look at, but the very act of her
weaving was a sight to behold. Nymphs were said to abandon their
frolicking to come observe Arachne practice her magic. So
remarkable were her works that observers often commented that she
must have been trained by the very patron goddess of weaving,
Athena, herself. Arachne scoffed at this. She was disgusted at
being placed in an inferior place to the goddess and proclaimed
that Athena herself could not do better than her.
Athena was quite perturbed at Arachne's bold claim, but she
decided to give the young woman a chance to redeem herself. She
came to Arachne disguised as an old woman and warned her to be
careful not to offend the gods, lest she incur their wrath. But
Arachne told the old woman to save her breath. She welcomed a
contest with Athena, and, if she lost, would suffer whatever
punishment the goddess deemed necessary. The goddess accepted the
challenge and revealed her true form. The nymphs who had come to
watch Arachne's weaving shrunk back in fear, but Arachne stood her
shaky ground. She had made a claim, and she was sticking to it. So
the contest began, the mortal at her loom, the goddess at hers.
Athena wove together the scene of her struggle with Poseidon for
the city of Athens. The scene depicted Poseidon and the salt water
spring and Athena herself with the olive tree. These of course were
gifts to the people who would immediately name Athena as their
protector and champion and soon after, name their city after her.
The bystanders marveled at the goddess' work. Arachne, for her
part, created a tapestry depicting scenes of Zeus’ most creative
affairs: his seduction of Leda in the form of a swan, Europa with
the bull, his golden rain shower over Danaë. The work was so
incredible that the bull seemed almost alive, running across the
tapestry with an actual living girl on its shoulders. Even Athena
herself found herself in awe of the tapestry.
Angered at Arachne's challenge, as well as the presumptuousness
of her choice of subjects, Athena tore the tapestry to pieces and
destroyed the loom. Then she touched Arachne's forehead, making
sure that she felt full guilt for her actions. Arachne was ashamed,
but the guilt was far too deep for her poor, mortal mind.
Depressed, she hanged herself.
Athena took pity on Arachne. She most likely did not expect that
Arachne would commit suicide. She brought her back to life, but not
as a human. By sprinkling her with the juices of aconite, Athena
transformed the woman into a spider, her and her descendants to
forever hang from threads and to be great weavers.
Arachne image from "Greek and Roman Mythology A to Z" by
Kathleen N. Daly, Illustration from New York Public Library Picture
Collection