Arachne

Arachne ( ; from Ancient Greek: Ἀράχνη, romanized: Arákhnē, lit. 'spider', cognate with Latin araneus) is the protagonist of a tale in classical mythology known primarily from the version told by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE–17 CE). In Book Six of his epic poem Metamorphoses, Ovid recounts how the talented mortal Arachne challenged the goddess Minerva (the Roman equivalent of Athena) to a weaving contest. When Minerva found that Arachne's tapestry mocked the gods, the goddess, though approving of Arachne's talent, became enraged and beat the girl with her shuttle. After Arachne hanged herself out of shame, she was transformed into a spider out of pity by Minerva. The myth both provided an etiology of spiders' web-spinning abilities and was a cautionary tale about hubris only leading to one's downfall.