Arachne
The fable of Arachne (also Arachné) is a late addition to
Greek mythology, recorded in
Ovid's
Metamorphoses ( (vi.5-54 and 129-145) and mentioned in
Virgil's
Georgics, iv, 246. The anecdote does not appear in the myth repertory of the Attic vase-painters. Arachne's name simply means "spider" (αράχνη). Arachne was the daughter of Idmon of
Colophon, who was a famous dyer in
Tyrian purple. She was a fine weaver in Hypaipa of
Lydia who became so conceited of her skill as a weaver that she began claiming that her skill was greater than that of
Athena, the goddess of weaving.
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Arachne
[Greek] 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...
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Arachne
Arachne (Greek) In Greek mythology the daughter of the dyer Idmon of Colophon, who was so skillful a weaver that she dared to challenge Athena to a competitive trial. Indignant because Arachne had presumed to depict the amours of the gods in her weaving, Athena tore her work, Arache hung herself, and Athena turned the presumptuous maiden into a spider, doomed to spin her web forever. The amours of the gods woven by Arachne signify the weaving of the marvelous web of manifested existence in all its intricate hierarchical structure.