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In an ancient city just across the Aegean Sea from Greece, there was a maiden named Arachne. Though her parents were poor, Arachne brought hope to her family through her spinning and weaving. She had so much pride in herself, believing that she didn't learn her beautiful skills from Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Athena went to seek out Arachne by disguising herself as an old woman. After watching Arachne spin, Athena transformed back to her original self and competed against Arachne to a spinning contest. In the end, Athena turns Arachne forever into a small spider.
The moral of this myth is to never challenge or compare oneself to the Greek Gods. Athena challenged Arachne to a spinning contest because Arachne thought she was superior compared to the goddess. In the end, Arachne becoming a spider for her entire life.
From this, I believe the Greeks are responding to a life mystery of spiders. According to this myth, Arachne brought spiders into our world. As a result, Arachne's name is known as a Greek word meaning 'spider.' From the word "Arachne," came the word English word "Arachnid."
The Greek virtue of respectfulness connects with Arachne's disrespect to the goddess. Arachne never showed respect to Athena. Instead, Arachne disregarded herself as a better person than Athena. This shows disrespect toward the goddess of wisdom.
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