Annabeth Chase was so scared of spiders that she even has problems with anything that looked like them or even the word spider. While Arachne was never seen, it was implied several times that children of Athena have a fear of Arachne's children, the spiders (known as arachnophobia). Percy Jackson and the Olympians The Lightning Thief The twin Giants Otis and Ephialtes would also help Arachne, collecting trophies from those they killed. Arachne eventually made her lair here and wrapped the statue in her spider silk in order to contain and hide its magical properties and lure children of Athena to their death.įor centuries, children of Athena would venture to this place using the Mark of Athena to "avenge their mother", but all were killed by Arachne's traps or the followers of Arachne or Mithras. Some time after the Romans brought the Athena Parthenos back to Rome, they brought it to an underground shrine. However, from that very moment on, spiders shared a mutual hatred with Athena, and they also despised humans as Arachne was never able to forget her shame and anger at being ridiculed. Consumed by shame, hatred, and self-pity, Arachne made a rope and tried to hang herself.Īrachne's act of suicide caused Athena to take pity on her, and so the Goddess transformed her into a spider, allowing her and her descendants to weave forever. When Athena's anger subsided and she saw the crowd scorning Arachne, she turned her wrath upon them instead, but the damage was still done - Arachne knew that she would never be able to take pleasure in weaving (her only joy in life) ever again, and the townspeople she had tried so hard to please had turned against her as well. In turn, the crowd, started to laugh and mock at Arachne's humiliation in the hands of the goddess. Taking the shuttle out of her loom, she started to beat Arachne mercilessly. When the tapestries were completed, the crowd was absolutely silent as both were incredible: Athena's was majestic, breathtaking, and radiated the power of the Olympian gods, while Arachne's was "the most scathing critique of the gods ever created", but still exquisite.Īthena was forced to admit that the contest was a tie, for Arachne's craftsmanship was genuinely flawless, but she was still enraged by how the girl had disrespected the gods through her tapestry. On the other hand, Arachne's tapestry featured all the wrong and foolish things that the gods had done, such as Zeus kidnapping the Princess Europa in the form of a bull, Poseidon as a stallion pursuing Demeter as a white mare, and so on. Athena's tapestry depicted the gods in all their glory, wise mortals honoring the gods in the appropriate manner, and - possibly as an indirect warning to Arachne - infamous mortals who had dared to compare themselves to the gods being punished with either transmutation or death. Provoked to the breaking point, Athena dropped her disguise and the contest began. Arachne scoffed at her and persisted that she owed Athena no thanks and that she actually wished for a weaving contest between her and the goddess so she could prove her skill to others and the gods. Athena then warned Arachne not to offend the gods and to humble herself and ask for forgiveness for dishonoring them in her arrogance. Assuming the form of a feeble old woman, she joined the crowd that admired Arachne's weaving and acknowledged to herself that the girl was indeed talented. Though she was offended after hearing this, Athena still decided to give Arachne a chance to prove her worth. However, all the praise Arachne received went to her head and she eventually became extremely arrogant and conceited, claiming that she owed no thanks to Athena (the very goddess who had invented weaving) for her talent and that the goddess could actually learn from her if she were to engage in a weaving contest with her. Soon, even the nymphs left their woods and their streams to join the common folk in admiring her weaving. She could weave exquisitely with effortless ease and had a particular proficiency in making tapestries, which could only be afforded by the wealthiest personages in those times. Though her parents died when she was young and left her with neither family, nor friends, nor fortune, Arachne still became the most famous girl in the kingdom because of her weaving skills. In the times of Ancient Greece, Arachne lived in a kingdom called Lydia (now called Turkey in the modern era) and was the daughter of lower-class wool-dyers. Her father Idmon was a son of Asteria, the Titaness of falling stars. 1.3 Transformation into the first spider.
0 kommentar(er)
