Spiders

Well, I have been away from the ol' puter cause there was a spider lurking. Making it's merry way, oblivious to the emotional trauma I was being caused by it's encroachment into my little world, straight for my conduit through which I access the world during the week. Pesky. Creepy.

Horrid.

I went up and brought the computer down cause I still can't stand to be up there by my lonesome.

But, there are certain things I admire about spiders as well. They eat bugs, which I am all for. Daddy longlegs eat other spiders, also a good thing in my book. But I am a great admirer of their webs. Particularly in the mornings when you can see them bejewled in dew. Orb weaver spiders make the most spectacular webs and I am always fascinated by them. They themselves are often quite beautiful. It's too bad really that I can't get over my irrational fear of them.

One spider that I am enamoured of is Miss Spider. She's a vegetarian. I can get behind that.

And then there is the mythological tale of Arachne;

The mythological story of the contest between the goddess Athena and the mortal woman Arachne was perhaps told best by the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses. A summary of Ovid's version of the tale follows. According to Ovid (Metamorphoses, Book VI), Arachne lived in the country of Lydia (which had a legendary reputation for producing some of the most splendid textiles in the ancient world), where she matured into one of the finest weavers ever known. Arachne was in fact so adept at weaving that she became arrogant, and claimed that her ability rivaled that of the goddess Athena. Athena, as the patron deity of weavers and quite an accomplished weaver herself, immediately took notice of Arachne, and travelled to Lydia in order to confront the boastful woman. There the goddess assumed the guise of an old peasant, and gently warned Arachne not to compare her talents to those of an immortal; Arachne merely dismissed this reproach, and so Athena was compelled to accept the mortal woman's challenge. They would each compete by creating a tapestry. Athena wove her tapestry with images that foretold the fate of humans who compared themselves with deities, while Arachne's weaving told of the loves of the gods. Such was Arachne's skill that her work equaled that of the goddess, and Athena, overwhelmed by anger, struck the hapless woman repeatedly. Terrified, Arachne hung herself, but Athena transformed the woman into a spider who quickly scurried off. Thus, this tale explains the spider's ability to weave its web.