Arachne & The Weaving Contest
By: Jackson Aman and Carleigh Parker
Arachne & The Weaving Contest
In a small town of Ledia, in Northern Greece, there once lived a young girl named Arachne. Arachne was famous in town for being a very skillful weaver and spinner and every day many girls and nymphs were stopping by to see her weave.
However, Arachne was a vain girl and couldn’t stop boasting about her talent. She claimed that she had learned the skill all by herself and that there was no one else in the world who could weave with her skill, she even felt that she could compete against Athena, goddess of skills and crafts, and beat her with ease.
Athena, disguised as an old woman, advises Arachne to not challenge a goddess however Arachne ignores her and continues to boast, Athena reveals herself to Arachne and accepts her weaving challenge, Athena depicts her contest with Poseidon over who would be patron god of Athens, Arachne depicts images of the gods being weak and fearful.
Athena sees the disrespect towards the gods and curses Arachne to spin webs forever, creating the first spider. Since then, the spider is cursed to be trapped inside her own web, weaving constantly and endlessly... but having all her works destroyed by man!