Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), A, Ara, Arachné

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Arachné

（Ἀράχνη). A Lydian maiden, daughter of Idmon of Colophon, a famous dyer in purple. Arachné excelled in the art of weaving, and, proud of her talent, ventured to challenge Athené to compete with her. The maiden produced a piece of cloth in which the amours of the gods were woven, and as the goddess could find no fault with it she tore the work to pieces. Arachné, in despair, hanged herself. Athené loosened the rope and saved her life, but the rope was changed into a cobweb, and Arachné herself into a spider (ἀράχνη). This fable seems to suggest that man learned the art of weaving from the spider, and that it was invented in Lydia.

Harry Thurston Peck. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers. 1898.

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Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)

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Arachné