Arachne

**Pantheon**: Greek

**Title**: The Weaver

## Information

Arachne, master weaver of fabrics and tapestries, was the daughter of a man involved in the rare purple dye industry. Only royalty and the spiritual elite were permitted to wear the colours produced by this prohibitively expensive dye. Various versions of her story exist, but somehow she ended up in a tapestry-making contest with Athena, credited by the Greeks as the inventor of weaving.

Some versions suggest that Arachne was boastful and arrogant, and Athena felt obliged to put her in her place. In other versions Athena’s motivation is jealousy. Arachne may be the original goddess of weaving. After both wove tapestries, the general populace was permitted to choose the winner. Arachne won with a cynical tapestry mocking the lifestyles of the Olympians, especially Zeus’ prodigious love life.

Whether Athena was enraged by the tapestry’s subject or whether she was enraged that Arachne won, she was not a gracious loser, nor did she ask for a rematch. Instead exactly what happened next also depends on the version of the story:

* Athena transformed Arachne into a spider.
* Athena hanged Arachne and then changed her into a spider.
* Athena slashed Arachne’s face with a shuttle; Arachne attempted to hang herself; Athena, allegedly motivated by pity, prevents her suicide by changing the rope into a web and Arachne into a spider, the ultimate weaver.

Arachne is a spider goddess of weaving. If she is anything like other weaving goddesses, she has a hand in weaving or transforming human destiny, too. Arachne may be among the spirits of Tarantism, the Italian dance cult, whose members are forced to dance until they drop, allegedly because of a spider bite. The entranced dancers also swing like spiders.

Spiders are classified as belonging to the Arachnid family.

**Favoured people:** Weavers, artisans, fabric artists, those who love spiders

**Manifestations:** A spider, woman, or hybrid of the two; even as a woman there will be some sort of arachnid reference.

**Iconography:** Artist Gustave Doré (1832–1883) envisioned Arachne with a beautiful woman’s head and torso and spider’s legs.

**Colour:** Purple

**Flower**: Purple wolfsbane (beware: extremely poisonous!); spider lily

**Offerings:** Images of spiders; silk and other luxury fabrics; your own handiwork

**See Also:** Athena; Fates (1); Weaving Maiden

## Smite Lore

Once, a beautiful and talented weaver of cloth and fabric, a single prideful mistake made a monster of Arachne for all time.

With loom and thread, there were none more skilled than the mortal Arachne. Viewers travelled leagues just to see her art. So wondrous and majestic were her tapestries, it was said the spinner must have been instructed by the patron Goddess of Weavers herself, Athena. To this comparison, Arachne proudly scoffed, claiming not even the Gods rivalled her talent at weaving.

When Athena heard this, disguised as a crow, she visited Arachne and encouraged her to show proper respect to the Gods. Arachne dismissed the old woman and issued a challenge that no God, not even Athena, could weave better than she. Furious, Athena revealed herself and accepted the challenge.

They both set to the loom with fervor. Athena wove a glorious tapestry depicting her battle with Poseidon over the city of Athens. Her detail and imagery were exquisite. Yet Arachne's weavings depicted Zeus in his many infidelities with mortals. So flawless, so lifelike was her artistry, not even Athena could refute the skill, nor could she contain her anger at such a sleight. Violently, she tore Arachne's tapestry and pressed a finger to Arachne's forehead. Twisting in anguish, Arachne fell to the ground as additional legs grew from her body, screaming as she transformed into the first spider.

It was an act of anger and pity, a lesson and a curse, for spiders are the greatest of weavers, and Arachne, in particular, was to weave for all time, but none could doubt the consequence for Arachne's pride.

## Appearances in Modern Media

From SmiteFrom Age of IshtariaFrom Blood BrothersFrom Kamihime ProjectFrom Monster StrikeFrom Rage of BahamutFrom Brave Frontier
## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes