Spiders and the Webs they Weave
April 14, 2017
I am creeping out as I study and look at pictures and videos of spiders for this blog! Just so you feel some my pain here is a video of the largest spider in the world…just to set the mood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gths8z60j_w
Not convinced yet how creepy they are? Lets see how Frodo, Sam, Harry, and Ron handle large spiders that are intent on having them for dinner.
Frodo vs. Shelob
Sam vs. Shelob
Rob and Harry against Aragog and his family
Fun fact: Rupert Grint aka Ron Weasley has a severe case of arachnophobia. So much so that he refuses to watch this scene.
In the mood for more watch a movie from 1990 titled “Arachnophobia,” a movie of a family who’s house is a breeding ground for spiders. Killer spiders!
In Greco-Roman mythology, Arachne is a mortal weaver who challenged the goddess of wisdom and crafts, Athena, in a weaving contest. This foolish pride resulted in Arachne being transformed in a spider. Some versions of this story list Athena as the winner some Arachne is the winner.
Athena wins: “In this version, someone asks Arachne how she learned to weave so well and suggested that Athena taught her and she didn’t know it. Arachne dismissed this and boasted that she could teach Athena a thing or two in weaving. Athena then appeared in the doorway, wrapped in a long cloak, and asked if she really didn’t believe that Athena had taught her to weave. Arachne repeated her boast and Athena challenged her to a contest in which Zeus (Jupiter) was to be the judge. Whoever lost must promise never to touch spindle or loom again. Arachne wove a web thin yet strong with many colors. This was no match for Athena’s weaving, made up of the gods and their glory, shining with their beauty.
Arachne acknowledged Athena’s triumph, but despaired at the loss of her craft. Athena saw that Arachne could not live if she could not weave, so she touched Arachne with the tip of her spear, turning her into a spider so she could weave without spindle or loom.”
Arachne Wins: “In this version of the myth, Arachne was a blessed weaver of Greece. People asked her if she had been taught weaving by Athena herself, the goddess of wisdom. Although this was meant as a compliment, Arachne became angry. She thought that her skill was greater than the goddess’s. Hearing of her attitude, Athena appeared on her doorway disguised as an old woman in a dark cloak. She asked her to respect the gods and goddesses, but Arachne just laughed, and said that even if Athena herself challenged her, it would be an easy win. Athena then revealed herself and challenged Arachne to a competition. The loser would promise never to weave again.
Athena wove a tapestry of the people of Greece, with Poseidon and Athena over them, deciding whose name should be given to the city of Athens. Arachne wove a tapestry about Zeus, and his seduction of Europa and others. Athena saw that although Arachne had insulted the gods, her work was so beautiful that Athena herself was awed. She realized that Arachne couldn’t live without weaving. To make Arachne realize her mistake and also to teach her to respect the gods and their works, she touched Arachne’s forehead with the tip of her hand. The magic worked only partially, filling Arachne with guilt for her insolence, and she hanged herself. Out of pity, Athena brought Arachne back to life as a spider, so that she and her descendants could weave all their lives.”
In Ancient Egypt Neith was associated with spiders. She was the weaver and spinner of destiny.
In North American cultures they have an oral tradition of a spider-trickster figure with several names. “…in the legend of The “Wasna” (Pemmican) Man and the Unktomi (Spider),[18] a man encounters a hungry spider family, and the hero Stone Boy is tricked out of his fancy clothes by Unktomi, a trickster spider figure.[19] The spider is also present as the deity Iktomi, which is occasionally depicted in this form.”
Spiders are patient creatures that rely on the hunting technique of spinning webs to catch prey. They are also thought us and mischievous and malicious since they use toxic venom that kills slowly. Their weaving skills have inspired the origin of spinning, basketry, knotwork, textile weaving and net making. In fact philosophers use the spider’s web as a metaphor for the Internet to show how everything is interconnected just like a spider web.
What a creepy inspiration they are!
Shara
This entry was posted in Mythology.
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