Arachne was an arrogant mortal, and boy, did she pay for it…..A warning to us mortals to not offend the Gods.

She was a weaver, whose father was a well-known wool dyer – in Tyrian (or royal) purple. Her weaving was artful and skilled in Hypaepa, where she had her workshop. All of the  praise to her went straight to her head. People claimed she must have been taught the skill straight from Athena herself…..Arachne scoffed at this and stated she was the better weaver of the two.

Athena disguised herself as an old lady and warned Arachne not to anger the Gods, but she would not listen, told the old woman she’d beat Athena if they competed…Athena shifted to her true form and threw down….challenged Arachne to a weave-off with the contention that a loss would have her at the Goddesses mercy.

Arachne accepted and they wove. Athena wove a scene of her conquering Poseidon. Arachne couldn’t resist being a snot, and wove scenes of Zeus and his infidelities…This angered Athena so much, that even though she agreed the weaving was immaculate, she went into a rage and tore up the peice and touched Arachne- making her feel guilt for her actions,  before leaving.

Arachne finally realized how much she’d upset Athena and was so overcome with guilt and shame that she hung herself. Athena felt bad for the suicide, so she brought her back, but not as a human, but as a spider- so she would weave for the rest of her days.  “So you shall live to swing, to live now and forever, Even to the last hanging creature of your kind.”

Arachne

Close up- click to buy

This necklace is inspired by the story of Arachne…a sterling silver web with a cubic zirconia mounted in it sets just above a sterling silver spider, hanging off of a silvertone chain.

There are opalite chips and labradorite chips, shining with a rainbow of colors over a greyish tone – mimicking the very web that Arachne is said to weave…The royal purple jade is there to honor Arachne’s heritage ant the silver glass seed beads tie in nicely with the pendant and the chain that makes up the sides and back of this 21 3/4″ necklace.