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Glite Dictionary
🕷️ A weaving myth 🕸️ Old spider name 🧶 A skilled weaver
Arachne

Arachne

1 9.9
A woman in Greek myth who is turned into a spider after a weaving contest with Athena
  • proper noun
  • /əˈrækni/
  • Literature
translation icon : Arachne
  • The myths of Ariadne and Arachne are as confounded in the speaker's mind as a fly in a spider web.

Examples

  • Arachne challenged Athena to a weaving contest and was punished by being transformed into a spider.

  • In Greek mythology, Arachne is known for her exceptional weaving skills, which led to her downfall.

  • (For classical mythology, Arachne, in her contention with Athena as master-weaver, is as much a faber as Daedalus.)

    Academic text (1997)

  • After Arachne's defeat, she was condemned to weave forever in the form of a spider.

Surface Forms

Arachne main

Etymology

Arachne is the name of a woman in Greek myth who challenged the goddess Athena to a weaving contest and was turned into a 'spider' for her pride. That story explains why the name is linked to weaving and to 'spiders'.