Over the years, there have been many versions of Arachne story, and even to this stage, she can be found in modern-day pop culture, ranging from TV shows to marvel comics to a host of other modern fantasy books. But my favourite rendition of the tale is by the Roman poet Ovid. Hence, Arachne skills and interest in weaving.
She possessed such a talent when it came to weaving that her work became highly famous, and people would travel thousands of miles just to get a glimpse at her tapestries. As her reputation grew, so did her ego. Many would often tell her that her work could even rival the creation of a god, and eventually, she began to believe this was true. The goddess Athena took great offence that Arachne refused to acknowledge that her skill came from the goddess as a gift.
Plead forgiveness, and Athena may spare your soul. Arachne, scowling with an evil face. Looked at the goddess, as she dropped her thread. Get you gone,—advise your goddess to come here herself, and not avoid the contest! And so, Athena removed her disguise and appeared to Arachne in all her glory, accepting the challenge. The contest began, and both women weaved away furiously. It ultimately ended in the immortals being punished for comparing themselves—quite an ironic piece of foreshadowing.
Arachne was now a disgrace, no one would ever want to buy her work again, and no man would ever marry her. And your own villagers shall judge. Seven days from today, we shall meet. You will set your spindle in that meadow, and I shall be in my place, and we shall have a contest. You will weave what you will, and I shall do so too. Then we will show what we have done, and the people will judge.
If you win, I shall withdraw the punishment. If you lose, it is your life. Do you agree? When people heard about the weaving contest between Arachne and Athena they came from all over the country to watch. Athena weaved four scenes that showed how gods and goddesses punished humans who considered themselves equal to the deities. Arachne, on the other hand, weaved scenes that depicted how gods abused humans. Who the winner of the contest depends on which version of the story you read.
According to one version, Arachne won the contest because her work was more beautiful. Athena became furious and punished Arachne transforming her into a spider and condemning her to weave for eternity.
Another version of the story tells that Zeus was the judge and it was Athena who won the weaving contest. This made Arachne so depressed that she could no longer weave. Goddess Athena felt sorry for the young girl from Lydia and transformed her into a spider so that she could continue weaving for the rest of her life. The myth of Arachne has been featured in many books and movies.
If you were good at sports, cooking, or learning, you would thank the gods responsible for that. Arachne not only never thanked her for it, she thought she was better than the goddess herself!
Another key part of the myth is power, both cruel power and kind power. Athena can either curse Arachne out of spite, or she can take pity on Arachne and find a way to help her.
Even though they had impressive powers, the Greek gods and goddesses could be very human in how they behaved. They got jealous and angry, or they were sentimental and easily motivated by feelings like compassion and love. Athena may have been within her rights as a goddess to join the contest, but her reactions to Arachne show the different ways a god could use their power on a human. Lastly, another important part of the Arachne myth is the idea of transformation and purpose.
Spiders trap other bugs and eat them. So how did Arachne end up in purgatory? Like it? Share it Like this: Like Loading Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:. Email required Address never made public. Name required. Squiggly Muse thisprobablyhappened. Follow Widowcranky on WordPress. Subscribe to Blog via Email Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
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