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Arachne and the Spider in Dante

The symbolic spider that wove its way through history

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The spider is an ancient and powerful symbol found round the globe, and have always elicited a wide range of emotions in people: fear, disgust, panic, and sometimes curiosity and appreciation. This broad spectrum of impressions has influenced origin myths, legends, art, literature, music, architecture, and technology throughout history.

Certainly an enigmatic symbol, the spider has different meanings and purposes according to different cultures. Arachnids and their webs embody many traits and interpretations, including resourcefulness, creation and destruction, cunning, deception, intrigue, the feminine, wisdom, fortune, patience, and death.

Arachne the Weaver

In ancient Greek legend, the world’s first spider was born from the pride of a woman.

The mortal Arachne was gifted in the art of weaving fine cloth and tapestries, and studied under the goddess Athena, herself a master at weaving and pottery. Arachne’s work was so beautiful, and her talent so great, that word of her weaving spread far and wide. Eventually, pride and arrogance lead Arachne to boast that her work was even better than Athena’s. In a contest to determine who was the better artist – the mortal or the goddess - Arachne wove a tapestry depicting the gods in a bad light, detailing their debauchery and foolishness. The goddess Athena was furious and, in a rage, destroyed Arachne’s work.

Arachne, horrified and ashamed to realize where her hubris had taken her, hanged herself. Athena, feeling that the mortal had learned the error of challenging the gods, turned the hanging rope into web, and Arachne into a spider, so she might weave beautiful creations for all time. This is the origin of the word arachnid, a term we use for spiders to this day.

Being crafty and industrious weavers of webs is only one trait of spiders which been used symbolically across the ages. Spiders and webs have been featured in traditions around the world, and have meant many things to many cultures.

Arachne returned to the living as a spider

Arachne returned to the living as a spider (via GreekMythology)

Creator and Destroyer

In many cultures spiders stand as the creators of our universe and world, and also serve as agents of destruction.

For example, in ancient India, it is written that a large spider wove the web that is our universe. She sits at the centre of the web, controlling things via the strings. In legend it is said she will one day devour the web/universe, and spin another in its place.

Egyptian mythology tells of the goddess Neith - a spinner and weaver of destiny - and associates her with the spider. She is often depicted with a weaving shuttle in her hand, or a bow and arrows, demonstrating her hunting abilities.

Egyptian Goddess of Weaving

Egyptian Goddess of Weaving (via HeartsPM)

The spider is a trickster god in West African stories, personifying the creation deity Anansi. Associated with storytelling and wisdom, the spider causes mischief to get the upper hand in dealings with others. The retelling of these “spider tales” imparts moral lessons through the generations.

Rock art and bark paintings in Australia reveal that the indigenous cultures created spider symbols. Spiders in their webs are linked with a sacred rock and ceremony for the Rembarrnga people in central Arnhem Land. Several regional clans use spider totems in rituals.

North American indigenous cultures have often portrayed spiders as creators, helpers, and wisdom keepers. In Hopi creation myth, Spider Woman is goddess of the earth. She, together with other gods, formed the first man and woman out of clay. The Lakota people’s lore includes a trickster spider, and the Navajo connect Spider Grandmother and the weaving of webs with the creation of the world.

Good Fortune

Spiders, contrary to their sometimes fearsome or creepy physical appearances, are not always portrayed as dangerous creatures or destructive emblems. In many traditions, the spider is a good omen and a helpful savior.

Ancient Chinese folk culture celebrates spiders. They are thought to bring happiness in the morning, and wealth in the evening. Spiders are lucky creatures, and dubbed “happy insects”. The image of the spider features widely in art and literature in China, and spider jewelry or charms are worn to bring good luck.

Patti Wigington writes in About Religion, “ In several cultures, spiders are credited with saving the lives of great leaders. In the Torah, there is a story of David, who would later become King of Israel, being pursued by soldiers sent by King Saul. David hid in a cave, and a spider crawled in and built a huge web across the entrance. When the soldiers saw the cave, they didn’t bother to search it – after all, no one could be hiding inside it if the spider web was undisturbed. A parallel story appears in the life of the prophet Mohammed, who hid in a cave when fleeing his enemies. A giant tree sprouted in front of the cave, and a spider built a web between the cave and the tree, with similar results.”

In Germany and Ukraine, it is tradition to include spiders and webs in Christmas tree decorations, due to the association between tinsel decorations and the spider web strands.

Temples, Art and Geoglyphs

In a Peruvian valley in 2008, researchers uncovered a forgotten adobe temple with carved spider imagery. The temple was unique in its dedication to a spider god, by “ the little-known civilization of Cupinisque, who ruled the area for about five centuries, during approximately 1500 BC to 100 BC,” as reported by Softpedia.

It is speculated by researchers that the spider and web represented hunting nets, and therefore prosperity and progress. It is also suggested the spider image was a powerful political symbol. Yale University archaeologist Richard Burger told Softpedia, “other symbolic associations for the spider god included war, hunting, power or textiles. There is an image of spider deities holding nets filled with decapitated human heads, so there was an analogy with successful warriors and claims of power.”

The ancient Moche people of Peru often included nature and spider images in their art.

Huacas de Moche

Huacas de Moche: A Moche Capital and Religious Site with Spider Mural – (Living in Peru)

The mysterious Nazca lines in the desert of southern Peru contain arachnid imagery. The series of geoglyphs depict straight lines and giant creatures, and were created between 400 and 650 AD. The largest image spans over 200m (660 ft) across. One of the geoglyph creatures is a giant, symmetrical, eight-legged spider. Some suggest the spider could have been a fertility symbol in the Nazca culture, and the senior astronomer at the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum posits that the spider is a representation of the Orion constellation. Archaeologists, mathematicians and historians still debate the purpose of the Nazca images.

Nasca Lines, Spider Geoglyph

Nasca Lines, Spider Geoglyph (Wikipedia)

Dark Dangers

Spiders cannot shake their frightening aspect, and many folktales warn of the dangerous traits associated with spiders, such as ensnaring webs, lies and deceits, lethal venoms, silent attacks, and creeping terror.

In Japan the Spider Princess, a mythological spider figure called Jorōgumo, is able to transform into a seductive woman who entraps travelling samurai. The Spider Princess has many names, such as “binding bride” or “prostitute spider”. Jorōgumo morphs into a beautiful woman to beguile warriors into marrying her. Sometimes the Spider Princess appears to carry a baby, which turns out to be her egg-sack.

Spider Princess

Spider Princess (Public Domain)

The references to menacing, deadly spiders are countless in modern culture, and their scary natures are illustrated time and time again in our movies, art, literature and popular culture.

The spider is a powerful image that has endured since ancient times. It reflects a duality that both horrifies and fascinates us, cementing its position in our world as an unforgettable symbol.

Featured image: Arachne depicted as a half-spider half-human in Dante's Purgatorio, by Gustave Doré (Public Domain)

References

Happiness Dropped from Heaven – Cultural China

Spiders in History  – Natural History

Arachne, The Greek Goddess Who Became The First Spider - GoddessGift

Peruvian Temple of the Spider God Revealed - Softpedia

Cultural depictions of spiders - Wikipedia

Spider Mythology and Folklore – About Religion

By Liz Leafloor

 

Comments

Incredible read, I learn so much from this amazing creature. I'm still itching for more info so I'll look into reading all these references individually.

I have visited this site casually but this is the first article that truly grabbed my attention and I love it. Keep up the good work.

In southern Italy the spider is connected to trance and transformative traditions.
Th women would be possessed by the incontrollable urge to dance, after being bitten by the tarantula spider and then a ritual would be performed to bring her back from the throes of furious dancing.
Multiple layers and meaning.
For more just look it up on youtube Taranta, look for the 1950s videos.

HAHA! Me too AB!

angieblackmon's picture

while this gives me new respect for spiders...and while i respect them as apart of the eco-system of my garden, i still think they're icky! 

love, light and blessings

AB

Tsurugi's picture

Well that's fascinating. Also somewhat scary. A spider the size of the sun....

Is the end of the age caused by the weaving of the new web, or is the new web the beginning of the next age?

 

I have sort of suspected the sun must play a part in the cycles here. I'm going to have to go read up on the eight energy belts of helios.  Thanks for the great info!

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Liz

Liz Leafloor is former Art Director for Ancient Origins Magazine. She has a background as an Editor, Writer, and Graphic Designer. Having worked in news and online media for years, Liz covers exciting and interesting topics like ancient myth, history,... Read More

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