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[[File:Pur 12 aracne.jpg|right|thumb|Arachne in [[Gustave Doré]]'s illustration for [[Dante Alighieri|Dante's]] ''[[Purgatorio]]'' of the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' series.]] |
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In Greco-Roman mythology, the mortal '''Arachne''' {{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|r|æ|k|n|iː}} was a weaver. |
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==Mythology== |
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Arachne was a great weaver who boasted that her skill was greater than that of [[Athena]], goddess of wisdom, weaving, and strategy. Arachne was born a shepherd's daughter and began weaving at a early age. When Arachne refused to acknowledge that her skill came, in part at least, from the goddess, Athena took offense and set up a contest between the two. Presenting herself as an old lady, she approached the boasting girl and warned: "You can never compare to any of the gods. Plead for forgiveness and Athena might spare your soul". "Ha, I only speak the truth and if Athena thinks otherwise then let her come down and challenge me herself," Arachne replied. Athena removed her disguise and appeared in shimmering glory, clad in sparkling white chiton. The two began weaving straight away. Both were very skilled with a loom, but clearly Athena was better and swifter. Athena's weaving represented four separate contests between mortals and the gods in which the gods punished mortals for setting themselves as equals of the gods. Arachne's weaving depicted ways that the gods had misled and abused mortals, particularly [[Zeus]]' tricking and sexually abusing of many women. Athena saw that Arachne has insulted the gods and ripped Arachne's work into shreds. Arachne hung herself. Moved to mercy, Athena gave Arachne life, but sprinkled her with [[Hecate]]'s potion, turning her into a [[spider]] and cursing her and her descendents to weave for all time. |
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==Influence== |
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The [[Linnaean taxonomy|taxonomical]] class name [[Arachnida]] and the name for spiders in many [[romance languages]] are both derived from ''arachne''. |
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The metamorphosis of Arachne in Ovid's telling furnished material for an episode in [[Edmund Spenser]]'s mock-heroic ''Muiopotmos'', 257-352.<ref>Written c. 1590 and published in ''Complaints'', 1591. Spenser's allusion to Arachne in ''[[The Faerie Queene]]'', ii, xii.77, is also noted in Reed Smith, "The Metamorphoses in ''Muiopotmos''" ''Modern Language Notes'' '''28'''.3 (March 1913), pp. 82-85.</ref> Spenser's adaptation, which "rereads an Ovidian story in terms of the Elizabethan world"<ref>Robert A. Brinkley, "Spenser's ''Muiopotmos'' and the Politics of Metamorphosis" ''[[ELH]]'' '''48'''.4 (Winter 1981, pp. 668-676) p 670. Brinkley makes a case for Spenser's episode as political allegory of Elizabeth's court.</ref> is designed to provide a rationale for the hatred of Arachne's descendent Aragnoll for the butterfly-hero Clarion. |
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[[Image:Diego Velázquez 014.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|''The Spinners, or, The Fable of Arachne'' (1644–48) by Velázquez]] |
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The tale of Arachne inspired one of [[Diego Velázquez|Velázquez]]' most factual paintings: ''[[Las hilanderas (Velázquez)|Las Hilanderas]]'' ("The Spinners, or The fable of Arachne", in the [[Prado]]), in which the painter represents the two important moments of the myth. In the front, the contest of Arachne and the goddess (the young and the old weaver), in the back,an ''Abduction of Europa'' that is a copy of [[Titian]]'s version (or maybe of [[Peter Paul Rubens|Rubens]]' copy of Titian). In front of it appears Minerva in the moment she is punishing Arachne. It transforms the myth into a reflection about creation and imitation, god and man, master and pupil (and therefore about the nature of art). |
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It has also been suggested that [[Jeremias Gotthelf]]’s nineteenth century novella, ''[[The Black Spider]]'', was heavily influenced by the Arachne story from Ovid's ''[[Metamorphoses]]''.<ref>David Gallagher, "The Transmission of Ovid’s Arachne Metamorphosis in Jeremias Gotthelf’s Die Schwarze Spinne"'', Neophilologus ''(2008) 92: 699-711</ref> In the novella, a woman is turned into a venomous spider having reneged on a deal with the devil. |
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==In popular culture== |
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* [[Gustave Doré]]'s depiction of Arachne (pictured at top) was used in the marketing and posters for [[Alejandro Jodorowsky]]'s 1968 cult film ''[[Fando y Lis]]''. |
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* In ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'', she is pictured as a grotesque, half-woman, half-spider monster who nested on people to produce killer spiders. |
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* Arachne is the central character in the 2011 novel ''The Spider Goddess'' by [[Tara Moss]]. |
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* In an episode of the animated series, ''[[Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' called "The Tigress," the Chief summarizes the events of the legend. |
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*[[Gustave Doré]]'s rendition of Arachne is one of the many recurring images used by the rock band, [[The Mars Volta]]. It has been used in the cover of their ''[[Live (The Mars Volta EP)|Live]]'' EP, as a backdrop for their live shows, and a favorite accessory for guitarist and composer [[Omar Rodríguez-López]] in the form of a belt buckle. |
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* In the modern classic fantasy ''[[The Last Unicorn]]'' by [[Peter S. Beagle]], a plain brown spider is bewitched into believing that she is Arachne until the witch who enchanted her is killed. |
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* Many fantasy-themed video games, such as ''[[Castlevania]]'' and ''[[Devil Summoner]]'', features Arachne along with other mythological creatures as either common enemies or as mighty "boss" monsters. |
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* In ''[[Class of the Titans]]'', Arachne was changed into a giant spider and makes a deal with Cronus to become human again. Cronus does not hold up the end of his bargain though and betrays her after getting her to trap the heroes for him. After being berated by Atlanta, Athena turns Arachne back into a human, and she is allowed to live at the Olympus High School, weaving for the gods. |
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* In [[Marvel Comics]], Arachne is the name used by the second Spider-Woman ([[Julia Carpenter]], currently the new Madame Web) to distinguish herself from [[Jessica Drew]], the original Spider-Woman. |
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* Arukenimon's name is a romanization of her name in the Japanese version of ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'', Arachnemon. Fittingly, she is a spider-like Digimon. |
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* Arachne Gorgon is a powerful witch and one of the main antagonists of ''[[Soul Eater (manga)|Soul Eater]]''. She was responsible for crafting the first demon weapons, an act that [[Death (personification)|Death]] fiercely opposed, forcing her to bide her time and remain in hiding for 800 years. She returns to lead the risen Arachnaphobia, her personal army against Death. |
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* Arachne is the inspiration for a character featured in the [[Broadway theater|Broadway]] musical ''[[Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark]]''. |
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* Arachne is the ''nom de plume'' for Sarah Hayes, one the UK Guardian Cryptic Crossword setters. |
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* In the 13th episode from season 6 of ''[[Supernatural (U.S. TV series)|Supernatural]]'', "Unforgiven," the monster of the week is an Arachne, depicted as a humanoid monster with spider-like attributes and abilities, including the ability to weave strong webs and a poisonous bite that can turn other humans into Arachnes. They can only be killed by decapitation and before one appeared in [[Bristol, Rhode Island]] hadn't been seen in 2,000 years. While soulless, [[Sam Winchester]] hunted one, but was unaware that it had turned its victims into Arachnes as well. One of the turned victims comes back for revenge and Sam is forced to kill him. |
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* Arachne is an inspiration to the hero "Arachna" in the video game ''[[Heroes of Newerth]]''. |
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* Arachne is featured as a playable Greek god in the video game ''[[Hi-Rez Studios#SMITE|SMITE]]''. |
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* Arachne is also mentioned in the [[Percy Jackson]] and [[Heroes of Olympus]] series. All of Athena's children, including Annabeth Chase, are arachnophobic because of Arachne's dispute with Athena. Arachne appears towards the end of [[The Mark of Athena]] as a large spider while still maintaining human features. She is defeated by Annabeth because of her pride and eventually they are both sent falling into [[Tartarus]], where Percy Jackson kills Arachne. |
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* Arakune in the game series Blazblue is a reference to this story. |
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* ''Arachne:Spider Girl!'' is a play for children based on the myth by [[Ursula Dubosarsky]], first published in the NSW [[School Magazine]].<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Arachne-Spider-Children-Metamorphoses-ebook/dp/B00AA7IGJU/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1356852185&sr=1-4&keywords=dubosarsky</ref> |
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*An unnamed prototype doll for the [[Monster High]] series simply called "Daughter of Arachne" was featured at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con alongside one of the Headless Headmistress and Scarah Screams, the daughter of the Banshee,to be the subjects of a poll to see which doll would be officially released at Comic-Con 2012. Scarah Screams ultimately won the poll. The Daughter of Arachne doll has red curly hair, coal black skin, eight arms, and two extra sets of eyebrows. |
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*[[Eminem]]'s 2013 music video for the song Rap God features imagery from [[Dante's Inferno]], including a picture of Arachne. (This is most likely a metaphor for the rappers who try to compete with the self proclaimed "Rap God"). |
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*In Rick Riordan's ''The Mark of Athena'', Arachne is pictured as a villain guarding a statue of Athena. |
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==See also== |
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*[[Cultural depictions of spiders]] |
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==Notes== |
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{{reflist}} |
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== References == |
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===Primary sources=== |
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*[[Ovid]], ''Metamorphoses vi.1-145'' |
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*[[Pliny the Elder]], ''Naturalis historia'' vii.56.196 |
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===Secondary sources=== |
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*[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0062%3Aid%3Darachne Harry Thurston Peck, ''Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'' (1898)] (13.23) |
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==External links== |
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{{commons category}} |
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{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Arachne}} |
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* Images of Arachne in the [http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/vpc/VPC_search/subcats.php?cat_1=5&cat_2=119 Warburg Institute Iconographic Database] |
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[[Category:Metamorphoses in Greek mythology]] |
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[[Category:Mythological spiders]] |
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[[Category:Monsters]] |
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[[Category:Women in Greek mythology]] |
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Revision as of 13:13, 1 May 2014
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