I.

TITLE: The Story of Arachne

1.2 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hesiod was considered a great Greek poet generally thought by scholars to have
been active between 750 to 650 BC. His most famous works were Theogony , relating the myths
of gods, and The Works and Days , describing a peasant life .One of the earliest Greek epic
poets, Hesiod, through his works, serves as a useful corrective to Homers more glamorous
portrayal of the world. Hesiod has an essentially serious outlook on life and is an artist who deals
with the gloomier side of existence, relating, in his Theogony, the bloody power struggle among
the divine dynasts Uranus, Cronus, and Zeus, while his Works and Days demonstrates that, in
Hesiods immediate circle at any rate, mankinds situation on earth was equally deplorable
during what he calls the age of iron..

1.3 PLOT
1.3.1 SUMMARY
Arachne was a girl who lived in Greece a long time ago.She was known to be a
good weaver and a spinner. She wove all sorts of beautiful pictures in her cloth and people came
from different places in the world to see her beautiful cloth. But Arachne was too proud of
herself. Arachne began telling other people that she was better than Athena who was a good
weaver and spinner also. Athena was mad to know that Arachne would say something like that
so she challenged Arachne to a weaving contest.Now, when the goddess of weaving heard of
Arachne's bold claims, she was upset, but nonetheless decided to give the young woman a
chance to regret her folly. Disguised as an old woman, Athena appeared before Arachne and
warned her of the consequences of provoking the wrath of the gods, but Arachne was not a bit
remorseful and challenged Athena to a contest, declaring that if she lost, she would accept any
punishment that Athena would decide for her. At the corner of her tapestry, she artfully depicted
humans who had dared to defy the gods and who had been punished without a trace of mercy .As
for Arachne, she deliberately chose scenes that depicted the infidelities and amours of the gods.
She vividly portrayed Zeus and his string of indiscretions. Athena was then forced to admit that
Arachnes work and skill were brilliant . But it only made her angrier so Arachne, like many
other foolish mortals, had dared to question the supremacy of the gods. She had, in her arrogance
over her art, been blind to the consequences of challenging the gods. Still in anger, Athens
transformed Arachne into a disgusting insect. She turned her into a spider proclaiming that
Arachne and all her descendants would henceforth hang forever from threads and be skillful
weavers.

1.3.2 CHARACTERS WITH DESCRIPTIONS

Arachne was a young woman who was known for her brilliant skills in weaving.
Athena was the goddess of wisdom,courage arts and crafts,etc. Known to be good at weaving
also.

1.3.3 THEME
The theme of the story was pride. Because Athena cannot accept the fact that a
mere human or mortal was better than her in weaving she decided to challenged her and upon
seeing her brilliant skill was amazed with it herself.She felt like was being belittled by a human.

II. VOCABULARY
1. obscure - not famous or acclaimed
2. humble -marked by meekness
3. embroidery - decorative needlework
4. immensely -to a great extent
5. indignant - angered at something unjust
6. reckless- marked by defiant
7. content - satisfied
8. skein - coils of yarn
9. remarkable- unusual
10. disguise- a costume
11. loom- a machine for weaving fabrics
12. peer- to look narrowingly
13. shabby - run-down
14. boast-to speak with exaggeration
15. weave- to interlace,to form a fabric material
16. spectator- a close observer
17. strive - to exert much effort
18. resort- have recourse to
19. shrivel- decrease in size
20. dyer- a person who colors fabric

III. PREDICTION (Alternative ending)

If Arachne did not boast of her skill and never started the humor of her being the best
weaver than anyone else even with Athena, she will be forgiven by Athena and it will never
came to the point where she wouldnt be able to weave in which later caused her to commit
suicide.

V. SUMMARIZING
Arachne was good at weaving.
Her tapestries were admired by many people all over the world.
She boasted about being a better weaver than even the goddess Athena herself
who was known to possess the same skill.
Athena disguised herself as an old lady and give Arachne and unsolicited advice
but arachne was too proud of herself nearly slapping the old lady.
Athena confronted her and a contest was settled to see who was better between
them.
The loser could never weave at her loom again.
When it was time to choose the winner , Athenas tapestries was magnificent
showing how gods punish mortal who try to defy them on the other hand Arachnes cloth
shows how god's infidelities and the crimes that gods committed.
Because of this , Arachnes work was rejected and Athena was announced as the
winner.
Arachne was heartbroken at the fact that she wouldnt be able to weave at her
loom again.
She committed suicide and hanged herself.
Athena felt pity towards the poor Arachne and transformed her lifeless body into a
spider
She tells the spider that her punishment is to hang for the rest of her life, weaving
her webs.
This punishment will be passed down to all of her children, forever.

VI. CONNECTING
Ive learned that in whatever we do we should never boast or become too full of
ourselves. There will always be someone who is better than us so might as well accept the fact
that we are all equal at some point.Being good at something is something to be proud of but we
should let it get to our heads.We should stay humble and thank God for every blessing and talent
that He showered upon us. Instead, we should use our talents to help other people.

Being superior at something doesnt mean anything. We must bear in mind that in
whatever we do we should never think of taking advantage of being on top-level over them.
Sometimes we are just being selfish and too confident of ourselves. Overconfidence might lead
us to nowhere. Indeed we need confidence but too much of it might become the cause of our
own selfishness.

VII. QUESTIONING
1. Who was Arachne? Arachne lived in Lydia and was known because of her
brilliant skill in weaving and spinning.
2. Why did Arachne commit suicide? She was heartbroken because she wouldnt be
able to weave at her loom again.
3. What is the consequence of her action? She was turned into a spider , always
hanging up and weaving .
4. Is Arachne's resurrection at the end of the story a gift, or a curse? It was a gift
because Athena knew how Arachne loved weaving so even after her death she granted her
wish of being able to weave again.
5. Why people travel just to see Arachne? She was known to be a good weaver and
her works were really amazing. People around the world go to see her and buy her
tapestries.
6. What question does this myth answer? It answers why spiders spin webs.
7. How did Athena disguise herself? She transformed into an old lady.
8. What did the old lady warn Arachne for? She warned her to ask apology to
Athena.
9. Why did Athena tear up Arachnes work? Because it was an insult to the gods.
10. Why did Arachne tried to hang herself? She felt too guilty and did not want to live
in insult.

VIII. YOU AS A CHARACTER

If I were Arachne I think I will never boast about my skill. I will never compare it to
anyone else especially to a goddess like Athena. I will never become too overconfident of
myself . It is hard to compete with a goddess thats why I know I dont have any chance of
winning. I will just be glad that I possess the same ability that gods themselves also have.
To be able to be compared to a goddess was already an achievement for a mere mortal so I dont
see the point of challenging Athena at all. I think the Athena herself since she was the goddess of
arts and crafts will be the most happy to know that a mortal is good at something especially in

the craft that shes also good at. Being boastful and too full of ourselves will only bring troubles
and problems to us. Staying humble for whatever reason is the best to avoid misunderstanding
and conflict with other people. Being capable of doing something is best if shared with other
people than making it a cause of a bigger problem.