Why do so many mythology names start with A? I dunno.

Arachne was an Ancient Greek girl. She was relatively poor, but she had one redeeming quality: she was a heck of a weaver.

She was so good at weaving that crowds would assemble every day outside her little mud-and-stick hut to watch her weave. Doesn't seem like something I'd want, but I guess Arachne liked the attention.

Back then, things made of cloth were super expensive, considering that they had to be done 100% by hand. Shirts, pants, bedsheets, underwear, curtains- you name it- all done by hand. Most people didn't own that many woven items, except if they were filthy rich. And people didn't exactly want to run around Ancient Greece buck-naked, so weavers had an important and special craft.

Something only royalty had were tapestries, kinda like big decorative mats made of cloth that you would hand on your wall. They were pretty much useless but they looked pretty and were hard to obtain.

Arachne specialized in tapestries. I don't know exactly what she made, but she could probably whip up a tapestry in about ten minutes. She was that good.

Eventually, all the attention drawn to her and her tapestries got to her head. It got so out of control that one day she boasted that she was better than Athena, the goddess who had invented weaving.

Athena doesn't take insults lightly. She heard Arachne's little boast and came down from Mount Olympus disguised as an old lady and joined the crowds around Arachne's hut to see what all the fuss was about. If someone insulted me as a god, I'd go down there in a blast of celestial light and smite those puny mortals into smithereens, but apparently Athena could keep her cool.

The goddess approached Arachne and suggested to the girl that maybe, just maybe, she should dial back the blasphemy and the insults against the Athena. Arachne just laughed in her face and said that if Athena was so good at weaving, then she herself should come down from Mount Olympus and prove it!

The old lady disguise melted away and Athena stood there in all her glory. Be careful what you wish for, Arachne.

The crowds immediately fell to their knees and groveled, appropriate for when an Olympian goddess suddenly appears, but Arachne stayed on her feet. No doubt the mortal girl was scared, but no way was she letting the goddess see that she was afraid.

Glares were exchanged. Insults hurled back and forth. I doubt Arachne slapped the goddess, but I wouldn't be surprised if she did.

Eventually, the two sat down and began to weave. Arachne used her regular wooden loom, while Athena summoned hers from Olympus. The crowd watched the two weavers, holding their breath. They wouldn't actually be voting. Athena has sworn on the River Styx to give a fair and justice judgement on the pieces.

Finally, they were done. Athena's tapestry was a depiction of her winning the custody battle with Poseidon over the trade city of Athens. Scattered throughout the woven cloth were several images of mortals insulting the gods and their punishments.

Ok the other hand, Arachne had some fun with her tapestry. It very accurately portrayed a few dozen cases in where Zeus and/or Poseidon chased after lots and lots of women. And men too. Half the time the gods were shaped as an animal.

From Athena's perspective, that was gross. Zeus and Poseidon were her father and uncle, respectively. She grabbed Arachne's weaving shuttle and beat the girl over the head several time. The crowd erupted in cheers and catcalls hurled at the weaver they had once loved. Athena stopped and ordered the crowd to settle down, and while her back was turned, Arachne fashioned a noose out of her leftover thread and hung it from the ceiling. Athena saw Arachne about to hang herself, and waved her hand. In a flash of light Arachne was transformed into the first small black eight-eyed-and-legged spider. Thus, Arachne was forever able to continue her weaving.

And you also have her to thank for that little spider in the corner of your closet.