Arachne

(Spider) Greek The daughter of Idmon of Colophon in Lydia (Asia Minor). Arachne was a skillful weaver. Marveling at her work, people The god Apollo stands tall and strong in this Roman copy, created in the second century A.D., of a Greek statue which was made in the fourth century B.C. This statue is in the Vatican Museum. (Photograph by Marie-Lan Nyugen.) Arachne 15 said that she must have been taught by Athene herself. Arachne denied this and rashly invited the goddess Athene to come and compete with her. Athene was annoyed but accepted the invitation. She became angry when she could find no fault in the maiden's clever weaving and amusing, if disrespectful, depictions of the antics of the gods and goddesses. Athene tore the work apart and destroyed the loom. Terrified, Arachne tried to hang herself. Athene turned Arachne into a spider, doomed to forever show off her artful weaving of cobwebs. This story was told by Ovid in Metamorphoses. Some scholars think that the explanation of this myth can be found in the commercial rivalry between the Athenians, represented by Athene, and the Lydians, represented by Arachne, for the export of textiles. The spider emblem was frequently found on the seals of sea lords and weavers.