Arachne and Athena

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Arachne and Athena

• By Group Boardinghouse

By Group Boardinghouse
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The Myth

• Arachne is a renowned weaver in her town of
  Lydia, capable of weaving heartbreakingly
  beautiful tapestries
• Those in awe of her works suggest that the
  goddess of weaving, Athena, trained her. This
  insults Arachne, who believes that not even a god
  can surpass her talent

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• Arachne challenges the goddess to a weaving
  contest, promising to submit to the punishment of
  Athenas choice if she loses. Athena weaves a
  tapestry depicting her defeat of the god
  Poseidon, while Arachne shows various salacious
  scenes of the god Zeus, Athenas father
• Athena admits that her competitor's tapestry is
  flawless, yet is still outraged by her
  presumptuousness and disrespect. Athena touches
  Arachne on the forehead, filling her with guilt
  and causing the mortal to hang herself.

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• Taking pity on the foolish mortal, Athena
  resurrects her in the form of a spider, destining
  Arachne and her descendents for forever weave
  beautiful webs.
• THE MORAL Dont offend the gods, and never let
  mortal ego overwhelm you.

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Allusions

• Etymology The suffix Arach- indicating spider
  i.e. Arachnid, Arachnophobia
• Web Browser Arachne suggests extreme skill or
  proficiency

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• Charlottes Web features a kind spider who weaves
  messages into her web to convince a farmer not to
  kill his pig.

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Characters who meet their downfall by offending
the gods

• Poisonwood Bible?
• Heart of Darkness?

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Works Cited
http//www.pantheon.org/articles/a/arachne.html T
itle image http//arcadissima.cool.ne.jp/files_gr
_rom/athena_arachne1677.jpg Loom
http//www.geschiedenisvoorkinderen.nl/fotootjes/G
rieken/goden Transformation http//en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/ImageArachne.jpg Web Browser
http//home.arachne.cz/ Charlottes Web
http//www.concord.k12.nh.us/schools/rundlett/hero
es/charlott.gif KEVIN SORBO http//epguides.com/
Hercules/cast.jpg