The story of Arachne will always be near and dear to my heart because it was the first classic story that I was ever heard. It was the story that got me interested in the Greeks and Romans in the first place; I hope you all enjoy as much as I do.
Arachne
Arachne lived in a small village in the Mediterranean, her parents were verry poor. Arachne liked to spin tapestries all day long, she became so skillful that the threads she used were as thin as the mist. One day her father came home with brightly colored fish. They were so beautiful that her father decided to dye some of Arachne’ s wool with them. The color was called Tyrian purple. After that Arachne always had some touch of the color in her tapestries. Arachne soon became famous. Arachne was praised for her work and her family was no longer poor because of her. She soon became full of herself. As she worked a group of people would gather around her. One person said that she must be better then the goddess Athena, a silly thing to say but Arachne though it was true. Another person said that she must have been taught by the goddess herself, this was true. Athena had sent the colorful fish and often guided her shuttle, but Arachne did not know this so she boasted that it was all her. One day she said that she would like to challenge Athena to see who is best. A old women came from the back of the crowd and told Arachne to say she is sorry and take back her words, Arachne didn’ t listen. The old woman then transformed in to the goddess herself. Arachne said she was ready for the challenge, and the two stood side by side, Athena depicted times of mortals doing wrong and being punished by the gods, another warning to Arachne. Arachne depicted all the times the gods did wrong. This was verry insulting so Athena ripped it up. Athena then hit Arachne on the forehead, and she began to shrink into a little creature no bigger than one’ s thumb. Athena told her that because she thought herself so wonderful at spinning and weaving she will do nothing else but spin and weave forever. Arachne then spent the rest of her life weaving webs, catching many flies and she had many children. Now her and her children make intricate webs that glisten with the dew on the grass in the morning.