| The Spider Queen. Originallay she was a Lydian maiden who was noted for the speed with which she spun sheep's wool into thread and then wove the thread into brilliant tapestries. Arachne became so proud of her skill that she challenged the goddess Athene, who wove the garments of the gods, to a weaving contest. Athene smiled at this impertinent challenge, and was so sure she could outclass any mortal maiden that she offered Arachne the chance to withdraw. But Arachne refused, and the girl and goddess set to work with distaff, shuttle, and loom. Their fingers moved like lightning as they spun their threads and then wove them into tapestries. Arachne finished first and offered her tapestry to Athene for inspection. Athene pored over the beautiful tapestry, her anger growing as she failed to find a single imperfection. She could not even find a knot where Arachne had broken and tied a thread. Suddenly she realised that she, a goddess, had been beaten by a mere mortal. In her angry humiliation she changed Arachne into the first spider and condemned her to spin and weave eternally with thread drawn from her own body. The Spider Queen still weaves her beautiful webs for the admiration of mankind, and her family is known as the Arachnidae. |
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