Arachne

Arachne was a girl who lived in Greece a long long time ago (in the story; this is a story). She was a very good weaver and spinner. She wove all sorts of beautiful pictures into her cloth, and people came from all around to see her beautiful cloth. But Arachne was arrogant (proud; she had what the Greeks called hubris).

Arachne began telling people she was better at spinning and weaving than the goddess Athena was. Athena was also known as a good spinner and weaver.
Athena was mad that Arachne would say that, and she challenged Arachne to a weaving contest. The two of them set up their looms in the same room and they wove from early in the morning until it got too dark to see (remember there were no electric lights then!). Then they compared what they had done.

Athena had woven a beautiful cloth showing the gods and goddesses sitting together on Mt. Olympus and doing good deeds for people. But Arachne thought she was so smart, she wove a cloth making fun of the gods and goddesses, showing them getting drunk and falling down and making a mess of things. Still it was clearly better weaving than Athena had done. When Athena saw it she was even more angry than she had been before. Even though Arachne's weaving was better, Athena didn't care. She pointed her finger at Arachne and suddenly Arachne's nose and ears shrank up, her hair all fell out, her arms and legs got long and skinny, and her whole body shrank until she was just a little tiny spider (Arachne means spider in Greek). "You want to spin," cried Athena, go ahead and spin!"

Another myth about hubris: the story of Niobe. Hubris also plays a big part in the Iliad.

To find out more about Arachne, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:

Arachne Speaks, by Blair Drawson and Kate Hovey. Poetical and lavishly illustrated version of the story of Arachne. On sale cheap!

D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths, by Edgar and Ingri D'Aulaire. (Look under Athena).

Main Greek religion page
Main religion page

!!NEW!!
Science for Kids

Teachers - check out our social studies lesson plans for middle school ancient history! Kidipede covers Egyptian Art, the Middle Ages, Ancient Rome, Native Americans and much more. Instant museum in your classroom.

Parents and grandparents – find the perfect gift for your middle school kid in Kidipede’s store! Kidipede has history books and other educational gifts for kids, from Halloween costumes to CD’s and DVD’s to art supplies. Now that’s good parenting! Pay securely through Amazon.

Teens – Kidipede has the best homework help around. Find out about ancient Greek music, medieval clothing fashions, and Native American technology trends. What was trendy clothing in ancient China? Who were the most popular girls in ancient Rome? How did teens decorate their rooms in ancient India?