Why is Arachne a spider? (Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.129-45)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21798464 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ellen Oliensis (University of California, Berkeley, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Dictynna (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1765-3142 • E-ISSN: 1969-4202 |
| Publisher | OpenEdition (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.4000/dictynna.3375 |
| OpenAlex | W4389739765 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 20 |
This essay presents an alternative reading of the transformation of Arachne, with implications for the interpretation of the episode as a whole. On the basis of what Minerva herself says before sprinkling Arachne with the transformative elixir, and of the elixir’s effects as Ovid describes them, I argue that the spider’s weaving can be read not as the culmination of Arachne’s punishment but as an act of defiant self-assertion on her part; that the ‘poetic justice’ Minerva had in mind centered not on Arachne’s weaving but on the challenge Arachne presents via her transgression of gender norms; and that this challenge is reformulated but not abandoned by Arachne the spider
Art · Biology · Spider · Zoology · Spider Taxonomy and Behavior Studies · Venomous Animal Envenomation and Studies
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |