Surrendering to the Gods
At the beginning of Book 6 in the Metamorphosos, we see yet another struggle between gods and mortals when Athena and Arachne engage in a weaving contest. At the start of the book, Athena wishes to be praised and decides to visit Arachne, who refuses to worship the goddess. Arachne is depicted as a brilliant and prideful weaver that scoffs at the idea of being considered a trained student of Athena’s. Athena disguises herself as an old woman to try to sneak in some appraisal for herself and challenges Arachne to a weaving contest. Before starting though she remarks to Arachne: “But yield to the goddess, and humbly beg her pardon. For what you said. She will pardon you if you ask”(6.38–39). Here we find the continual thread of gods seeking validation from mortals. As we have already seen throughout the Met, the gods have the emotional vulnerability of the humans that they rule and rarely act at a higher standard than their so called superiority would entail. We have already grown accustomed to and seen interventions before, but this is arguably one of the most clear exhibitions of pride among the gods we have seen up to this point. The disguise as an old woman is a coy way of getting validation without outright by demanding it, yet still shows a level of egotism that walks on a great deal of fragility.
Of course, Arachne does not back down from her own sense of confidence and lashes against the Athena without knowing the truth behind the disguise : “I haven’t changed my mind. Why does your goddess avoid A contest with me? Why doesn’t she come herself?”(6.49–50). Here we see the perfect opposition to Athena’s ego which is the human spirit’s own self worth and knowledge. Arachne’s ability to weave just as perfectly if not more so than a goddess puts into question the status of greatness of the gods. Unfortunately for Arachne, her greatness is punished with her transformation into a spider at the expense of standing up for humankind. Arachne’s character could be considered a representation of human excellence and pride, who is strong enough to challenge the gods. Instead of being honored by the gods for her greatness, she is instead punished for her inability to kneel before them and challenge them with her piece showing their abuses on mortals. A parallel can also be made with Virgil’s own character in Dante’s Inferno, who is also a representation of human excellence. Virgil is a wise poet who is able to answer most of Dante’s questions but has at times exhibits doubts about his own ability in comparison with the christian god’s knowledge. As great as Virgil was, he was put in limbo along with Plato and Aristotle because he did not worship the right god. The two character’s excellence demonstrate that humans are truly great but are eternally doomed to serve the gods, which is why Vigil cannot enter heaven and why Arachne was put in Dante’s Purgatorio.
Photo Credit: Arachne (1868) — Gustave Doré– Illustration for “The Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri
Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy, Complete The Vision of Paradise, Purgatory and Hell. Translated by H.F Cary, Project Gutenberg, 2005.
