Arachne

• Arachne was a mortal who foolishly challenged the Goddess Athena to a weaving contest.
• When she won, Athena changed her into a spider, doomed to hang by a thread forever.

The Myth

• Arachne’s vanity
  • Arachne was a mortal who foolishly boasted that she was better than Athena, the Goddess of wisdom and crafts, when it came to weaving the finest tapestry.
  • Athena appeared as an old woman and demanded she recant. When Arachne refused, Athena revealed herself and accepted her challenge her to a contest.
• Arachne wins the weaving contest
  • After completing the contest, Athena examined Arachne’s tapestry and became enraged on discovering that it was not only more beautiful, but that it was perfect, and she beat Arachne on the head three times with her shuttle.
• Arachne condemned to spin forever
  • Arachne was so mortified that she tried to hang herself, but Athena let her live.
  • Instead, she changed her into a spider and condemned her and her descendants to hang forever whilst still spinning a thread.

Source

• Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE)
  • Although the myth is part of Greek Mythology, it was Ovid who first wrote down the story in Metamorphoses Book VI.