Arachne

Arachne was a Lydian woman, famous as a weaver, who challenged Athena to a weaving contest and was turned into a spider. Her story is told in full only by the Roman poet Ovid, in Book 6 of the Metamorphoses; her name is the Greek word for “spider”.

Arachne infuriates Athena

Who Was Arachne?

According to Ovid, Arachne was from Maeonia, as Lydia was also called, and lived in the small town of Hypaepa. She was not famous for her family or her home: her father Idmon of Colophon dyed wool with Phocaean purple, and her mother, also of humble birth, had died. She had earned a name throughout the Lydian cities for her skill alone. Nymphs left their vineyards on Mount Tmolus and the waters of the Pactolus to watch her work, and they enjoyed seeing her not only with the finished cloth but at the work itself: carding the rough wool, drawing out the fleece, turning the spindle, or embroidering with the needle. People said she must have been taught by Athena, but Arachne denied it and, offended at the idea of having a teacher, challenged the goddess: “Let her compete with me; if I lose, I will refuse nothing” (Metamorphoses 6.5–25).

Athena as an Old Woman

Athena appeared to Arachne disguised as an old woman, with false grey hair and a stick, and advised her to seek fame among mortals but to yield to the goddess and ask her pardon. Arachne glared at her, let go of her thread and answered rudely, telling her to give her advice to her daughters-in-law. Athena then threw off her disguise. The nymphs and the Mygdonian women worshipped her; only Arachne was not afraid, though she blushed for a moment, and she insisted on the contest. Ovid writes that she “rushed to her fate in a foolish desire for victory” (Metamorphoses 6.26–52).

The Contest

Athena’s Weaving

Each woman set up a loom and wove in cloth interwoven with Tyrian purple and gold. Athena wove the rock of Ares in Cecrops’ citadel, the Areopagus, and the old dispute with Poseidon about naming the land: the twelve gods sat in judgment with Zeus in the middle; Poseidon struck the rock with his trident and sea water sprang out, and Athena gave herself shield, spear, helmet and aegis, and struck the earth with her spear so that the olive tree came forth with its berries, and the gods marvelled. In the four corners she added examples of mortals punished for opposing the gods, as a warning: Rhodope and Haemus, who took the names of the highest gods and were turned into mountains; the mother of the Pygmies, turned into a crane by Hera; Antigone, daughter of Laomedon, who dared to compete with Hera and became a stork; and Cinyras, who clasps the temple steps as stone in place of his dead daughters. An olive border ran round the edge (Metamorphoses 6.53–102).

Arachne’s Weaving

Arachne wove the loves of the gods, in which they took the shape of animals and others to deceive women: Europa tricked by the bull, Asterie held by an eagle, Leda under the swan’s wings, Antiope, Alcmena, Danae, Aegina, Mnemosyne and Persephone, all deceived by Zeus in disguise; Poseidon as a bull, as the river Enipeus, as a ram, a horse, a bird and a dolphin; Apollo as a rustic, a hawk, a lion and a shepherd; Dionysus with Erigone and a false grape; and Cronus as a horse. Her border was flowers woven with ivy. Ovid says that neither Athena nor Envy could find fault with the work (Metamorphoses 6.103–128). Ovid names no judge; Athena’s anger at a flawless piece of work decides the contest.

Arachne hangs herself

Athena was angry at Arachne’s success, and tore the cloth with its “heavenly crimes”. She took the boxwood shuttle from Mount Cytorus and struck Arachne on the forehead three or four times. Arachne, unable to bear it, tied a noose around her neck. Athena pitied her as she hung, lifted her up and said, “Live, indeed, but hang, shameless girl; and let the same condition be a law of punishment for your descendants” (Metamorphoses 6.129–138).

Arachne becomes a spider

As she left, Athena sprinkled her with the juice of Hecate’s herb. At once her hair fell out, and with it her nose and ears; her head became very small and her whole body tiny. Slender fingers hung from her sides in place of legs, and the rest was belly. From it she still spins a thread and, as a spider, weaves her old web (Metamorphoses 6.139–145).

Virgil also mentions the spider as “hated by Minerva” (Georgics 4.246–247), using Athena’s Latin name.

Arachne Sources

Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.1–145; Virgil, Georgics 4.246–247.

See Also: Athena, Zeus, Poseidon, Europa, Leda, Danae, Hecate, Medusa