- For the genus Arachne (Endl.) Pojark., see its current synonym Leptopus Decne.. For the web browser, see Arachne (web browser)
The fable of Arachne is a late addition to Greek mythology, recorded in Ovid, Metamorphoses. Book 6, 5-54, 129-145 and mentioned in Virgil, Georgics, iv, 246. The anecdote does not appear in the myth repertory of the Attic vase-painters. Arachne's name simply means "spider" (αραχνη). She was a fine weaver in Lydia who began claiming that her skill was greater than Athena's, the goddess of weaving.
Athena was angered, but gave Arachne a chance to redeem herself. Assuming the form of an old woman, she warned Arachne not to offend the gods. Arachne scoffed and wished for a weaving contest, so she could prove her skill. Athena dropped her disguise and the contest began.
Athena wove the scene of her victory over Poseidon that inspired the people of Athens to name their city for her. Arachne's tapestry featured Zeus: Zeus being unfaithful with Leda, Zeus being unfaithful with Europa, Zeus being unfaithful with Danae.
Even Athena admitted that Arachne's work was flawless, but was outraged at Arachne's disrespectful choice of subjects. Finally losing her temper, Athena destroyed her tapestry and loom, and struck Arachne on the head. Arachne realized her folly and was crushed with shame. She ran off and hanged herself.
Athena took pity on Arachne. Sprinkling her with the juices of aconite, Athena loosened the rope, which became a cobweb, while Arachne herself was changed into a spider. The story suggests that the origin of weaving lay in imitation of spiders and that it was considered to have been perfected first in Asia Minor.
From arachne are derived the taxonomical class name Arachnida, and the name for fear of spiders, arachnophobia.
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public ___domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898) (13.23)
