Ladies Of Athena |
The Story of theSpider
Athena contested for honors with a mortal. This Mortal was Arachne. Her father was Idmon, skilled in the art of dyeing in purple, and from infancy the girl had been taught her fathers art, joined with that of weaving. In all the land there was none that surpassed her. So conceited did she become that, lifting her head proudly to the shies, she challenged Athena herself, patron of the arts of the household, to compete with her.
Pallas Athena had watched with kindly interest the progress that Arachne was making, and when she heard that presumptuous challenge, she was not offended. She assumed the guise of an old woman and made her way into Idmons home. There she came to the spindle at which Arachne was weaving and admired the girls skill.
I am, she said, a woman old in experience, and I have seen much in this wide world. To me has come the knowledge of your challenge to Athena. Let me counsel you to withdraw your words. You surpass and shall surpass all other mortals, but how vain and foolish it is to contend with the immortal gods, from whom comes all skill
At the words of Athena, Arachne began to shrink and shrivel. Shortly she was completely transformed. Where a girl had stood and insect crawled- the spider; and before the eyes of the terrified beholders it scuttled off to a corner and immediately began weaving a web of shimmering threads. So to this day the Greeks call the spider Arachne.