Arachne
Arachne (Greek Αράχνη "spider" ) is a figure from Greek mythology, in the art of weaving a contest against Athena ( Roman Minerva ) was sought and what the goddess so enraged that she transformed her mortal rival into a spider. The legend of Arachne is a late addition to griechisch-/römischen mythology.
Myth
As the daughter of Idmon of Colophon, who had made himself a name as a purple dyers, Arachne was in the Lydian city Hypaipa a very skilled weaver who has been praised far and wide.
This led them to be arrogant and so they began to brag that their skill in weaving even bigger than that is the Pallas Athene. This in turn angered the goddess, but she wanted to Arachne still be an opportunity to moderate itself. Therefore, Athena appeared in the form of an old, wise woman and warned Arachne before their hubris. But Arachne showed no insight and asked only challenging, which is why the goddess for not coming himself. "There she is! " Said Athena and revealed her true form. Now the two women went to work. Athena chose as the subject for her tapestry a scene that shows how they prevailed in the contest for the patronage of Athens against Poseidon, Arachne, however, made twenty-one scenes that show the gods in their love escapades from.
Even Athena had to admit that Arachne's work was flawless. Your envy and calumny, to have been presented by a mortal so she let lose his composure. They tore Arachne's tapestry and beat with their weaving shuttles on her competitor a. Arachne, who now feared the revenge of the goddess completely, hanged himself on it. But Athena did not let her die, but undid the rope around her neck and sprayed the poison of Eisenhut, whereupon the knitting turned into a cobweb and Arachne into a web spider. So were Arachne and their descendants doomed to weave all eternity and to hang on threads.
" Araña " in Spanish or " ragno " for example " araignée " in French, in Italian: In many Romance languages is Arachne direct namesake for the spider.
Interpretations
- The legend suggests that people have copied the weaving spinning and weaving that was originally perfected in Asia Minor.
- The story seems a early trade rivalry between the Athenians and the lydio - Carian Thalossokraten that were Cretan origin, reflect. Numerous seal with a spider emblem, the Cretan Miletos - the mother city of the Carian Miletus and largest exporter of colored wool fabrics in the ancient world - have been found to show that there an extensive textile industry was operated at the beginning of the second millennium BC. For a time dominated the Mileser the profitable trade in the Black Sea. They talked also warehouses in the Egyptian Naucratis.