Greek myth · 声匠改编 · 4:29
Arachne the Weaver
Arachne weaves better than anyone, and says so, loudly, even to the goddess Athena. A weaving contest, a flawless tapestry, and the very first spider.
Narrator
Arachne
Athena
Idmon, Arachne's father
A River NymphOther languages · 2 languages
About this story
Arachne's contest with the goddess Athena comes from the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book 6, where the goddess goes by her Roman names, Minerva and Pallas. Ovid describes both tapestries in detail: Athena's shows the twelve gods and her victory over Poseidon for the city of Athens, with warnings in the corners, while Arachne's shows the gods' tricks on mortals, and even the goddess can find no flaw in it. This retelling keeps the old-woman disguise, the contest and the transformation into a spider, and leaves out the darker moments of Ovid's ending.
What it teaches
Talent is a gift, but pride and boasting can make even the most gifted person lose everything. For older children it also raises a good question: was Athena fair, when Arachne's work was perfect?
Suits
Ages 6–12
Tips for telling it
- Give Athena two voices: a creaky old woman, then a sudden, ringing goddess on she has come.
- Ask older children whether Athena was fair. Ovid himself says no one could find a flaw in Arachne's weaving.
- Go looking for a spider web together, ideally on a dewy morning.
Questions people ask
- What is the moral of Arachne?
- Don't let pride turn into arrogance. Arachne's skill was real, but she refused to show any humility, even when she was warned, and she paid for it.
- Why did Athena turn Arachne into a spider?
- Arachne boasted that she wove better than the goddess, refused to apologise, and wove a tapestry mocking the gods. Athena tore it apart and changed her into a spider, so that she and her descendants would weave forever.
- Where does the word arachnid come from?
- From Arachne. Arachne is the ancient Greek word for spider, and the group of animals that includes spiders, scorpions, mites and ticks is called Arachnida.
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