In Greek mythology the woman Arachne was a very talented weaver, credited with inventing linen cloth and nets and whose son was said to have introduced the use of the spindle in wool manufacturing. These were incredible discoveries and according to the stories, such as the one by the Roman poet Ovid, Arachne was filled with hubris, boasting that her prowess as a weaver exceeded even that of the goddess Athena.

Athena was incensed by this and set up a contest with Arachne to determine who truly was the most skilled. Athena’s weaving depicted other contests in which the gods had punished mortals that set themselves as equals to the gods, to show how wrong Arachne was to challenge the gods. Arachne’s weaving on the other hand depicted ways in which the gods had misled and abused mortals.

Athena was enraged by this insult to the gods, and the fact that Arachne’s weaving was more beautiful than hers. She destroyed Arachne’s work and drove her to commit suicide through hanging. Athena cursed her saying “Live on then, and yet hang, condemned one, but, lest you are careless in future, this same condition is declared, in punishment, against your descendants, to the last generation!”

The goddess then sprinkled Hecate’s herb on her “making Arachne's hair fall out. With it went her nose and ears, her head shrank to the smallest size, and her whole body became tiny. Her slender fingers stuck to her sides as legs, the rest is belly, from which she still spins a thread, and, as a spider, weaves her ancient web.”

Campaign: “Curse of Strahd”, Dungeons & Dragons

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