There are many depictions of spiders from the mythology of the Ancient Greeks to African folklore to today’s popular culture. The spider has symbolized patience due to its hunting technique of setting webs and waiting for prey, as well as mischief and malice for the slow death it causes, its venom often seen as a curse. In Ancient Egypt, the spider was associated with the goddess Neith as spinner and weaver of destiny, a link continuing later through the Babylonian Ishtar and Greek goddess, Athena. 

The most notable ancient legend of the spider is the story of the weaving competition between Athena and the sometimes princess Arachne. This fable was added much later to the Greek mythos when Ovid wrote the poem Metamorphoses between AD 2-8. Due to her father’s skill with cloth dying, Arachne became adept in the art of weaving. Eventually, she began to consider herself a greater weaver than the goddess Athena and challenged the goddess to a weaving contest to prove her skill. Athena wove the scene of her victory over Poseidon that had inspired her patronage of Athens, while Arachne wove a tapestry featuring twenty-one episodes of infidelity amongst the Gods of Olympus, which angered Athena. The goddess conceded that Arachne’s weaving was flawless but she was infuriated by the mortal’s pride. In a final moment of anger, Athena destroyed Arachne’s tapestry and loom with her shuttle and cursed Arachne. Out of sadness, Arachne hung herself soon after. Taking pity on her, Athena brought her back to life as a spider using the juice of the aconite. Athena made sure that the spider retained Arachne’s weaving abilities. In Greek, Arachne means spider. 

Not all spiders spin webs specifically to hunt prey. They have been attributed by numerous cultures with the origination of basket-weaving, knot-work, spinning and net making. Web spinning has also led to the association of the spider with creation myths, as they seem to have the ability to excrete their own artistic worlds.