Let us talk about Arachne. You’ve prob already made the connection. Greek myths first spider. But did you stop to think that Arachne was a woman first? Unfortunately, Arachne had a run-in with the Goddess Athena, and as we already know, Athena has a habit of cursing women whilst in a fit of rage.

 

The most known version of Arachne’s myth comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses book VI. Arachne was the daughter of Imond, a purple pelting dyer (say that 10 times fast). He must have been savvy at his job, as purple dye was expensive back then! They lived in the Ionian town of Colophon – modern day Türkiye. Arachne had practiced weaving since she was a little tacker. By the time she reached womanhood, she was spectacular at the skill. So good in fact, humans and nymphs alike would abandon their stations and travel to Colophon just to get a glimpse of Arachne at her loom. This admiration attracted the attention (and or jealousy) of Athena. Athena, sitting on her perch at Mount Olympus said, ‘yeah nah, I’m the goddess of weaving’ and scooted down from the heavens in the guise of an old woman. Athena approached Arachne as this old woman to discuss all things weaving. Arachne stated, ‘nah yeah, I’m a pretty good weaver’ and as women can’t just be confident in their abilities, this must have been hubris. Athena, now offended (or threatened), ripped off her old lady garb in such a dramatic reveal, even the nymphs said ‘SHIT!’ Athena then materialised a loom from thin air and challenged Arachne to a weave-off. Which turns out, not an interesting choice of entertainment, but more interesting than golf.

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Athena went on to weave a tapestry that depicted scenes with less than subtle hints, about how the Gods deal with mortal hubris. Meanwhile, Arachne, whom I’d say doesn’t have the best self-preservation tactics, weaved scenes of all the shitty things the Gods have done to women. Athena, who could not fault the skillchickship of Arachne’s tapestry, also found offense in Arachne’s choice of subject. In a fit of rage, Athena tore up Arachne’s tapestry and beat Arachne with her shuttle (tool used in weaving – NASA wasn’t around then). Meanwhile, the crowd dispersed rather rapidly, as they knew shit was about to go down.

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Arachne ran from Athena, and out of shame or fear, hung herself from a nearby tree. Athena then found Arachne's body, and in Ovid’s opinion, found pity for Arachne, and transformed her into a spider. Older accounts of Arachne’s story state that Athena hates spiders. Therefore, it makes more sense, that Athena would transform her into a spider due to rage, cursing her to weave for eternity.

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In relation to my depiction of Arachne

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I carved Pandora without her pithos. Medusa without her snakes. Arachne without her webs. The reason I chose to carve these women from Greek myth in their human form is because their identity is tied up in their curses, and when we only see the curse, we don’t see the woman. All these myths began with women. Women whose identities changed how we see them, due to circumstances outside of their control. Due to being noticed and cursed by someone more powerful. In my carvings I choose to remove that curse in order to give the women in these stories back their power. 

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If you would like to read a discussion about curses on women from Greek myth, in the POV of Arachne, please head to my interpretations page.

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Arachne was carved unplugged (no power tools), in huon pine.