Arachne and Niobe Notes

Arachne and Minerva

• Tritonia supported the Aonians' righteous rage and songs.
• Tritonia, contemplating how to best safeguard her reputation, considered the fate of the Lydian Arachne.
• Arachne's skill in wool work was renowned throughout Lydia, surpassing her humble origins.
• Arachne's father, Idmon of Colophon, was a dyer of Phocian purple wool.
• Despite being orphaned and of low birth from Hypaepa, Arachne's craftsmanship gained widespread recognition.
• Nymphs from Timolus and Pactolus would gather to admire Arachne's creations.
• Arachne's skill in forming balls from unspun yarn, softening threads, and weaving was exceptional.
• Observers believed Pallas (Minerva) must have mentored Arachne, which Arachne denied and challenged the goddess to a competition.
• Pallas, disguised as an old hag, advised Arachne to yield to the goddess and seek pardon.
• Arachne scorned the old woman's advice, expressing her disdain for the goddess and questioning why Minerva wouldn't appear.
• Pallas revealed herself, causing fear among the nymphs and Phrygian girls, except Arachne.
• Arachne blushed, her cheeks turning red before fading, similar to the sky at dawn.
• Arachne persisted in her challenge, and Pallas accepted the contest.
• Both Pallas and Arachne set up their looms and began weaving.
• They used slender warps, split threads with rods, and wove the weft with sharpened shuttles.
• They worked swiftly, their skill and zeal evident in their movements.
• They wove imperceptible arrays of shades, resembling sunlight through rain, creating a rainbow effect.
• They inlaid strings of rigid gold, weaving ancient tales into their work.
• Pallas depicted the Areopagus in Cecrops' city and the contest to name the land.
• She portrayed the gods, including Jove, the sea-god with his trident, and herself with a shield, spear, and helmet.
• Pallas depicted the earth sprouting an olive tree, symbolizing her victory.
• She included four cautionary examples in the corners:
  • Haemus and Queen Rhodope, transformed into icy peaks for calling each other gods.
  • A Pygmy mother turned into a crane by Juno.
  • Antigone, transformed into a stork for opposing Juno.
  • Cinyras, weeping over his daughters, now temple steps.
• Pallas framed her work with peaceful olive leaves.
• Arachne wove the bull disguise that tricked Europa, making the scene appear real.
• She depicted Asteria in the eagle's grasp and Leda with the swan.
• Arachne portrayed Jove's various disguises and affairs, including:
  • Jove as a satyr with Nycteus' child.
  • Jove as Amphitryon with the Tirynthian wife.
  • Jove as gold with Danaë.
  • Jove as flame with Asopus' child.
  • Jove as a shepherd with Mnemosyne.
  • Jove as a spotted snake with Deo's child.
• She also depicted Neptune's disguises:
  • Neptune as a bull with Aeolus' girl.
  • Neptune as Enipeus, siring the Aloads.
  • Neptune as a ram, tricking Bisaltes' child.
  • Neptune as a steed with the crops' kind corn-haired mother.
  • Neptune in dolphin form with Melantho.
• Arachne accurately depicted each figure.
• She portrayed Phoebus as a peasant, hawk, and lion, and Liber deceiving Erigone with grapes.
• Arachne ended her weave with a braided fringe of vines and flowers.
• Pallas, enraged by Arachne's skillful depiction of the gods' crimes, tore up the cloths and beat Arachne with her shuttle.
• Arachne, in despair, hanged herself.
• Pallas, in pity, transformed Arachne into a spider, cursed to weave for eternity.
  • Pallas sprinkled herbal sap of Hecate to remove the girls hair, nose and ears.

Niobe

• The story of Arachne spread throughout Lydia and Phrygia.
• Niobe, despite Arachne's fate, remained prideful and refused to humble herself before the gods.
• Niobe's pride stemmed from her husband's art, their noble lineage, the kingdom's power, and especially her children.
• Niobe considered herself the happiest of mothers.
• Manto, Tiresias' daughter, urged the women of Thebes to offer prayers and incense to Latona and her twins.
• The women of Thebes obeyed, but Niobe arrived in Phrygian robes, disrupting the rites.
• Niobe questioned why people worshiped Latona and her twins instead of her, boasting of her own divine connections.
• Niobe's lineage:
  • Father: Tantalus, who dined in heaven.
  • Aunts: The Pleiades.
  • Grandfather: Atlas, who holds the sky.
  • Father-in-Law: Jove.
• Niobe ruled Phrygia with her husband and possessed great wealth and beauty.
• She had seven daughters and seven sons and expected more in-laws.
• Niobe contrasted her large family with Latona, who had only two children after being refused land for childbirth.
• Niobe declared her safety in numbers and claimed she was too great for Fortune to harm.
• She mocked Latona's childlessness and ordered the women to abandon the rites.
• The women obeyed but continued to worship Latona in secret.
• Latona, angered by Niobe's pride, appealed to her twins for vengeance.
• Latona explains that Niobe dares to set her babes other mine and calls her childless.
• Phoebus and Phoebe agreed to avenge their mother and traveled to Cadmus' citadel.
• Two of Amphion's sons, Ismenus and Sipylus, were riding horses on an open plain.
• Phoebus shot Ismenus through the heart with an arrow.
• Sipylus fled but was also struck by an arrow in the neck.
• Phaedimus and Tantalus, wrestling together, were shot through as one by Apollo.
• Alphenor, attempting to lift their bodies, was killed by Apollo with a blade through his torso.
• Damasichthon was shot in the knee and then in the throat while trying to remove the arrow.
• Ilioneus prayed to all the gods for mercy but was still struck in the heart.
• The mother learned of this fate through rumors and grief.
• Amphion, Niobe's husband, killed himself.
• Niobe, now pitied even by her enemies, mourned over her sons' corpses.
• Niobe, still proud, taunted Latona, claiming her grief was greater than Latona's joy.
• Phoebus and Phoebe shot the daughters of Niobe.
• One daughter died freeing an arrow from his guts.
• Another died as she soothed her mothers pain.
• Six daughters died by various wounds.
• The last daughter dies as Niobe begged the God to leave her one.
• Childless, Niobe sat among the corpses of her family, petrified with grief.
• Her body turned to stone, but she continued to weep.
• A strong wind carried her to her native slopes, where she became a weeping stone.
• The goddess' wrath caused all men and women to revere the twin-bearer's godhood even more.