Arachne
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- For the genus Arachne (Endl.) Pojark., see its current synonym Leptopus Decne.. For the web browser, see Arachne (web browser); for the archaeological database see Arachne (Archaeological Database)
The Story
The fable of Arachne (also Arachné) 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.
Afterwords
From arachne are derived the taxonomical class name Arachnida, and the name for fear of spiders, arachnophobia.The tale of Arachne inspired one of Velasquez' most interesting paintings: Las Hilanderas ("The Spinners, or The fable of Arachne"), in which the painter represents the two important moments of the myth. In the front, the contest of Arachne and the goddess (the young and the old weaver). In the back, there is a version of the Abduction of Europa, that is a copy of Titian's version (or maybe of Rubens' copy of Titian). In front of it appears Athena in the moment she is punishing Arachne. It transforms the myth into a reflection about creation and imitation, god and man, master and pupil (and therefore about the nature of art).
Popular television
- In Class of the Titans, Arachne had been transformed into a spider by Athena before death, and actually didn't even die. She made a deal with the show's villain, Cronus: if she captured the only people who stood in his way of world domination, (7 teenagers) he would turn her back into a human. She hypnotised one (Atlanta) into capturing the others, but another (Archie) managed to break the spell. The two pretended that Atlanta was still in Arachne's control, and helped her convince Cronus to honor his end of the bargain before the heroes were destroyed. Then they took action and freed the others. Unfortunately, Cronus escaped, transforming Archne into a normal-sized spider. In the end, Atlanta convinced Athena to give Arachne her original form.
- In Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, she is pictured to be a grotesque, half-woman, half-spider monster who nested on people to produce killer spiders.
References
- [Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)] (13.23)
- [The spinners at Olga's Gallery]
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