CHAPTER IV 



Silk Spinning and Handiwork 



SPINNING CHARACTERISTICS 



HE MAIDEN ARACHNE, DAUGHTER 



of Idmon of Colophon in Lydia, became widely known for the 

 excellence of her work at the loom. Indeed, her art was so superb 

 that the nymphs from the woods and streams came to gaze upon it. 

 Many wondered whether even Athene, Goddess of Weaving and 

 the Handicrafts, could surpass this maiden, who seemed to have 

 been tutored by the Gods themselves. So confident became Arachne 

 in her amazing skill that she challenged Athene to compete with 

 her. Although affronted by the presumption of the girl, Athene 

 accepted the challenge and wove a tapestry showing the warfare of 

 the Gods and the fate of those who conspire against them. Arachne 

 depicted the love adventure of the Gods with such exceeding per- 

 fection that the Goddess, unwilling to admit that so high a degree 

 of excellence could be attained by a mere mortal, became enraged 

 and destroyed it with a blow from her spinning shuttle. The rash 

 and humiliated Arachne attempted to hang herself, but the noose 

 was loosened and became a cobweb, and the maiden was changed 

 into a spider. Thus disgraced, lying on the rent pieces of her 

 tapestry, Arachne was condemned to perpetual spinning. 



The Greek word for spider is arachne, commemorating the 

 weaving skill and mythical fate of the imprudent maiden. From it 

 we derive the group name Arachnida, which embraces all the arach- 

 nids or spider like creatures, and also the ordinal names of Araneae 

 or Araneida, exclusively used for spiders. 



The English word "spider" is a corruption of "spinder," one who 

 spins, and is similar in form to other Teutonic words derived from 

 the same root, such as the Spinne of the Germans. This root per- 

 sists in different form in the words "spinstress" and "spinster," both 



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