Se-Eun, Song, and Hoyeon, Jeju, March 2023
EYE OF JEALOUSY
JEALOUSY OF THE EYE
JEALOUSY EYE
JEALOUSY
THE PRICE
Silk Optic
Arachne lived in a little settlement on the shores of the Mediterranean with her family. Though the family was poor, she used to spin tapestries all day as a hobby. Later, she became so proficient that the strands she took out were very thin. One day, Arachne’s father; a fisherman, came home with a basket of shellfish. Arachne experimented by dying the wool into the colour of the shellfish (purple and crimson). The result was successful.
She became immensely popular, and everybody wanted to buy the tapestries. One day, Athena, who was the patron goddess of spinning and weaving, heard Arachne’s story. She was the one who secretly sent the shellfish to Arachne and, while invisible, taught her how to weave so well. One day, Arachne told the people that she was the best at weaving, better than Athena. Athena became furious and transformed into an old woman to give Arachne a second chance.
“Young lady, pray mercy for Athena and you will be forgiven.” However, Arachne scoffed at the old woman (a disguised figure of Athena) and continued to say that she was the best. Athena, who became more furious, turned back into her original form. Arachne was embarrassed, but she did not ask Athena for forgiveness but instead challenged her to a competition. So, the competition started. While Athena wove a picture of mortals who, like Arachne, had been irresponsible and boastful, Arachne wove a picture of gods who had done foolish things. This was very disrespectful. Athena, who could not bear it anymore, tore Arachne’s picture into pieces. The foolish mortal became terrified, but it was too late. Athena struck Arachne and shrank her into a little creature no bigger than a thumb.
“You shall rebirth into a creature who does nothing but spin and weave.”
This is how Arachne rebirthed as a spider.
References
Story: Arachne – It’s All Greek to Me!, https://pressbooks.pub/iagtm/chapter/story-arachne/.
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