Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Arachne.
The gallery
Las Hilanderas (The Fable of Arachne)
Diego Velázquez, c. 1657
Velázquez's Prado masterpiece folds Arachne's contest with Athena into a tapestry workshop — in the background the Lydian weaver's challenge becomes art about art itself.
Pallas and Arachne
Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1636–1637
Rubens paints Athena's fury as Arachne's loom is struck — the mortal weaver's pride met by the goddess who will turn her into a spider.
Minerva and Arachne
René-Antoine Houasse, 1706
Houasse's Versailles canvas from the Story of Minerva cycle shows the goddess confronting Arachne at her loom — the weaving contest as court allegory of skill and hubris.
In play
Las Hilanderas
Diego Velázquez
Velázquez's Prado canvas folds Arachne's contest into a tapestry workshop — Athena's wrath as Baroque meta-painting.
Arachne
The Lydian weaver turned spider remains the emblem of craft that rivals the gods — and of arachnid etymology itself.
Hades II
Supergiant Games
Supergiant's sequel brings Arachne into Melinoë's path — the spider-woman as ally and reminder of Athena's curse.