Description

The story of Arachne, mortal woman transformed into a spider for speaking her truth.

Arachne, meaning spider in Greek, was a beautiful Lydian maiden, who was highly gifted in the art of weaving. Born to Idmon, a famous dyer of cloth, Arachne was no ordinary weaver and the very act of her weaving was sheer magic and a sight to behold.

News of Arachne’s artistry spread far and wide and it is said that even the nymphs from the forests left their frolicking and gathered around Arachne to watch her weave. So moved were they by her skills that they remarked that she surely must have been trained by none other than Goddess Athena, the goddess of weaving.

All this adulation was more than Arachne could handle and it went to her head and she became quite arrogant about her superior skills. She began bragging about her skills, proclaiming herself to be far more superior to even Athena.

When Athena, the goddess of weaving, heard of Arachne’s bold claims she decided to give the young woman a chance to regret her folly. Disguised as an old woman, Athena appeared before Arachne and warned her of the consequences of provoking the wrath of the gods, but Arachne was not a bit remorseful and challenged Athena to a contest, declaring that if she lost, she would accept any punishment that Athena would decide for her. Athena then revealed her true form and accepted the challenge. Athena at her loom and Arachne at hers, each began working with threads of gold and a splendid array of colours to decide who would outdo the other in this ultimate trial.

Athena created a tapestry replete with scenes from the history of the gods. She portrayed Zeus at the center of the Olympic pantheon as well as her own contest with Poseidon and her victory. At the corner of her tapestry, she artfully depicted humans who had dared to defy the gods and who had been punished without a trace of mercy.

As for Arachne, she deliberately chose scenes that depicted the infidelities and amours of the gods. She vividly portrayed Zeus and his string of indiscretions. Arachne’s work of art, featured twenty-one scenes of the various misdemeanours of the mighty gods, including Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Dionysus and others, exposing their shamefulness for all the world to see.

Although Arachne’s work was brilliant and flawless, Athena was incensed by Arachne’s humiliating portrayal of the gods and in anger destroyed Arachne’s tapestry and loom. In despair of this unjust outcome, for creating a flawless depiction of the truth, Arachne hanged herself and at this point Athena relented and transformed the rope into silken thread and Arachne into a spider, proclaiming that Arachne and all her descendants would henceforth hang forever from threads and be skilful weavers, to be both sought after and reviled for exposing the truth.

Arachne as Weaver Goddess

“7-8 feet tall , black covered body bigger round abdomen (near spinerette), with 8 athletic legs: stands tall, assertive, and can be domineering. Emits an air of strong self confidence, and unapologetic sass. Her facial expressions exhibit an air of deep wisdom and equally blunt truth. Her Web is a pictorial depiction of this. A web cannot stand alone, but rather with anchors and support it can be a source of comfort, rest, familiarity, and an insightful way to remind us of our inter-connectedness. For we cannot pull on one thread without disrupting the others.

She does not just fight for the Truth, she is a living embodiment of the Truth. She exposes it. For the Goddess Arachne, it is never enough for her to just say her part. But rather to put the other side all on display to exhibit the illusions , facades and masks. This is why Goddess Athena turned her into a spider – a metaphorical punishment of sitting in the bed you made.

Arachne knew that the Truth conquered all else. She is a voice for the downtrodden, vulnerable, abused, oppressed, isolated, misunderstood and rejected. She tends to be fond of those who do not go with the mainstream- reminding her of her victory over Goddess Athena. Arachne depicted the Gods as they TRULY WERE: exposing their sins, secrets and taboos. This upset Athena and she tuned Arachne into a spider so that she would continue to construct her vision on a smaller scale.

Arachne can definitely come across rude, blunt, provocative and highly critical. She is the living embodiment of The Devil’s advocate.” (words of Nicole Heller – devotee to Arachne)

We call on Arachne to reveal the dark face of truth,

We ask her for the courage to expose what is hidden,

To not look away, to not stay silent.

This piece is dedicated to all the innocents in this world, who were silenced for fear of powerful men.

Arachne shows us the way, as she lays bare all their misdeeds in her webs.