, (ontent Standards

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Reading 3.1 Identify theforms of ftctlon and describethe major characteristics ofeach form.

by Olivia E. Coolidge

~AR..ACHNE~

Connect to the MythWhat actfv1ty do you eniov that you are good at? It could be a sport,a musicatinstrument, or another activity. Think about somethingthat you are good at and that you enjoy doing. Then complete thefollowing sentences.

1.Iamgoodat _

2. Doing what I'm geed at makes me feel _

3.1 like when my friends think I am _

Build BackgroundIn this selection, Olivia E. Cool-idge tells the myth of Arachne. Theword arachne (a rak' ne) means "spider" in Greek. Read the factsbelow.~ Many words in the Eng~ishlanguage come from Greek.~ Spiders be-tong to a gr-O-upof animals called arachnjds.~ Scorpions, ticks, and mites are also arachnids.~ Fear of spiders is called arachnophobia.~ The story of Arachne explains the origin of spiders.

Set Purposes for ReadingRead "Arachne" to find out what happens to a mortal who thinksshe can compete with a god and win. As you read, ask yourself _what kind of character Arachne is, and how this myth compares toother myths you have read.

Literary Element MythA myth is a traditional story. Many myths are about gods andgoddesses. Other myths are about heroes, monsters, and strangecreatures. These stories are handed down from generation togeneration.

Myths are important because they show readers the beliefs andvalues of the people who created them. Myths usually explain abelief, a custom, or a force of nature. Myths also provide examplesof how the people who created them thought humans shouldbehave.

Reading Strategy Make Generalizations About PlotA generaHzation is a broad statement that can be true about manyfacts or situations. When you make generalizations about plot, youmake broad statements based on what happens in the story. Forexample, after reading a myth in which a god solves a problem onearth, you mig·htmake the qeneratization that qods often interferewith life on earth in myths.

Tomake generalizations about plot, think about• what happens in the myth.• other myths that have similar plots.• what all of these plots tell you about myths in general.

VocabularyRead each word and definition at the right. Then match eachword below with the phrase that has the opposite meaning.

mortal 1. outside of

descendants 2. being flexible

amid 3. wtH Hve forever

obscure 4. people who are not related toeach other

obscure (ab skyoor') adj. not well known

amid (0 mid') prep. in the midrUe of................................................................

mortal (mort' 131) adj. sure to die; human

obstinacy (ob' sta na se) n. stubbornness

descendants (di sen' dants) n. peoplewho have the same ancestors

obstinacy 5. something that a lot of people know about

A

Vocabularyobscure (ab skyoor'] adj. notweUknown

VocabularyHnd the sentence withskillful and read it. Findthe context clues thatexplain what skillful means.Underline the words andphrases.

Myth Underline the wordsthat tell what people do whenthey hear ofArachne's finecloth and embroidery.

What does this tell you aboutwhat people from this culturevalue?

144

Arachne was a maiden who became famous throughoutGreece, though she was neither wellborn nor beautiful

• LJ

and came from no great city. She lived in an obscure littlevillage, and her father was a humble dyer of wooL In thishe was very skillful, producing many varied shades, whileabove all he was famous for the clear, bright scarlet which ismade from shellfish, and which was the most glorious of allthe colors used in ancient Greece. Even more skillful thanher father was Arachne. It was her task to spin the fleecy

10 wool into a fine, soft thread and to weave it into cloth onthe high, standing loom within the cottage. Arachne wassmall and pale from much working. Her eyes were light andher hair was a dusty brown, yet she was quick and graceful;and her fingers, roughened as they were, went so fast thatit was hard to follow their flickering movements. So softand even was her thread, so fine her cloth, so gorgeous herembroidery, that soon her products were known alloverGreece. No one had ever seen the like of them before.

At last Arachne's fame became so great that people20 used to come from far and wide to watch her working. Even

the graceful nymphs would steal' in from stream or forestand peep shyly through the dark doorway, watching inwonder the white arms of Arachne as she stood at the

loom and threw the shuttle" from hand tohand between the hanging threads, or drewout the long wool fine as a hair, from thedistaff as she sat spinning. "Surely Athene"

Distaff herself must have taught her," people wouldmurmur to one another. "Who else could

know the secret of such marvelous skill?" 30

Arachne was used to being wondered at, and shewas immensely proud of the skill that had brought somany to look on her. Praise was all she lived for, and itdispleased her greatly that people should think anyone,even a goddess, could teach her anything. Therefore whenshe heard them murmur, she would stop her work andturn round indignantly to say, "With my own ten fingers Igained this skill, and by hard practice from early morningtill night. I never had time to stand looking as you peopledo while another maiden worked. Nor if I had, would I 40

give Athene credit because the girl was more skillful thanI. As for Athene's weaving, how could there be finer clothor rnore beautiful embroidery than mine? If Athene herselfwere to come down and compete with me.she could do nobetter than I."

One day when Arachne turned round with such words,an old woman answered her, a gray old woman, bent andvery poor, who stood leaning on a staff and peering atArachne amid the crowd of onlookers. "Reckless girl," she

1. In this sentence, to steal is to sneak in without being noticed.2. A shuttle is the part of a 100mthat moves thread back and forth.3. Athene (also spelled Athena) is the Greek goddess of wisdom and crafts.

Arachne

. Reading Strategy

Make Generalizations AboutPlot Read the highlightedtext. Make a qeneralizationbased on what Arachne says.

Vocabularyamid (a mid') prep. in themiddle of

Arachne 145

Arachne

Vocabularymortal (mort' a/) ad/ sure todie; human

, R.e~lllmgStrategy

Make Generalizations AboutPlot Reread the highlightedtext Who do you think willw~nthe contest hetwe-enArachne and Athene? Whatgeneralization can you makethat supports your prediction?

Vocabularyobstinacy fob' sta na sej n.stubbornness

146

said, "how dare you claim to be equal to the immortal50 gods themselves? I am an old woman and have seen much.

Take my advice and ask pardon of Athene for your words.Rest content with your fame of being the best spinner andweaver that mortal eyes have ever beheld."

"Stupid old woman," said Arachne indignantly, "whogave you a right to speak in this way to me? It is easy tosee that you were never good for anything in your day,or you would not come here in poverty and rags to gazeat my skill. IfAthene resents my words, let her answerthem herself. I have challenged her to a contest, but she,

60 of course, will not corne. It is easy for the gods to avoidmatching their skill with that of men."

At these words the old woman threw down her staffand stood erect. The wondering onlookers saw her growtall and fair and stand clad in long robes of dazzling white.They were terribly afraid as they realized that they stood inthe presence of Athene. Arachne herself flushed red for a .moment, for she had never really believed that the goddesswould hear her. Before the group that was gathered thereshe would not give in; so pressing her pale lips together

70 in obstinacy and pride, she led the goddess to one of thegreat looms and set herself before the other. Without aword both began to thread the long woolen strands thathang from the rollers, and between which the shuttlemoves back and forth. Many skeins" lay heaped besidethem to use, bleached white, and gold, and scarlet andother shades, varied as the rainbow. Arachne had neverthought of giving credit for her success to her father'sskill in dyeing, though in actual truth the colors were asremarkable as the cloth itself.

4. Skeins are strands of yarn or thread wound around to form a bundle.

Soon there was no sound in the room but the breathing 80

of the onlookers, the whirring of the shuttles, and thecreaking of the wooden frames as each pressed the threadup into place or tightened the pegs by which the whole washeld straight. The excited crowd in the doorway began tosee that the skill of both in truth was very nearly equal, butthat, however the cloth might turn out, the goddess was thequicker of the two. A pattern of many pictures was growingon her loom. There was a border of twined branches of theolive, Athene's favorite tree, while in the middle, figuresbegan to appear. As they looked at the glowing colors, 90

the spectators realized that Athene was weaving intoher pattern a last warning to Arachne. The central figurewas the goddess herself competing with Poseidon forpossession of the city of Athens; but in the four comerswere mortals who had tried to strives with gods andpictures of the awful fate that had overtak-en them. Thegoddess ended a little before Arachne and stood back fromher marvelous work to see what the maiden was doing.

5. In this sentence, striv-e means to stwggle or compete.

MY NOTES

Arachne

Myth Reread the highlightedtext. What is the goddessAthene weaving into herdesign? What do y.o:uthink itmeans?

Arachne 147

Arachne

Make Generalizations AboutPlot Underline the wordsAthene says to Arachne.

What generalization canyou make about who 'ivinsconflicts between humansand gods?

Vocabularydescendants (di sen' dents]n. people who have thesame ancestors

148

Never before had Arachne been matched against100 anyone whose skill was equal, or even nearly equal to her

own. As she stole glances from time to time at Atheneand saw the goddess working swiftly, calmly, and alwaysa little faster than herself, she became angry instead offrightened, and an evil thought came into her head. Thusas Athene stepped back a pace to watch Arachne finishingher work, she saw that the maiden had taken for her designa pattern of scenes which showed evil or unworthy actionsof the gods, how they had deceived fair maidens, resortedto trickery, and appeared on earth from time to time in

110 the form of poor and humble people. When the goddesssaw this insult glowing in bright colors on Arachne'sloom, she did not wait while the cloth was judged, butstepped forward, her grey eyes blazing with anger, and toreArachne's work across. Then she struck Arachne across theface. Arachne stood there a moment, struggling with anger,fear, and pride. "I will not live under this insult," she cried,and seizing a rope from the wall, she made a noose andwould have hanged herself.

The goddess touched the rope and touched the maiden.120 "Live on, wicked girl," she said. "Live on and spin, both

you and your descendants. When men look at you theymay remember that it is not wise to strive with Athene." Atthat the body of Arachne shriveled up, and her legs grewtiny, spindly, and distorted. There before the eyes of thespectators hung a little dusty brown spider on a slenderthread.

All spiders descend from Arachne; and as the Greekswatched them spinning their thread wonderfully fine, theyremembered the contest with Athene and thought that itwas not right for even the best of men to claim equality 130

with the gods.

Arachne

Myth Underline the wordsthat tell what happens toArachne.

What might the purpose ofthis myth be? Explain.

Arachne 149

~A~CHNE~Connect to the MythLook back at what you wrote in the "Connect to the Myth" activityon page 142. How do you feel about what you are good at? How didArach-rmfeet1Ct'JIDflfete the ehart oofuw.

My Feelings Arachne's Feelings

DoY-Ou think the myth is trying to teach a lesson about your feelingsOf actions? ExpJain..

Literary Element Myth

Explainwhat Athens's and Arachne's designs tell about eachcharacter.

A~ene: _

Athene: _

Reading Strategy Make Generalizations About Plot

"Gods are cruel to humans." Do you think that this is a fairqenerallzation to make based on the myth, "Arachne?" Why orwhy not?

~AR..ACHNE~Vocabulary

amid descendants mortal obscure obstinacy

A. Word Meaning Think about the meaning of the boldfacedword as you read each question. Circle the word or words thatanswer the questto-o.

1. Would a brother and sister be descendants of theirparents and grandparents or of their nieces and nephews?

2~ ts an ohscure mvrn €I-story thaf every4l-ne knows or a storythat few people know?

3. Would the best mortal weaver be the god, Athene, ortile. young. girt Arachne?

8. Vocabulary Skills Practice Write the vocabulary word thatbest completes each sentence.

1. Even though he lived in an village inGreece, Arachne's father was very famous for dyeing wool abright scarlet color.

2. An old woman stood the crowd and

yelled out when she heard Arachne compare herself toAthene.

3. Because of her ----',Arachne did not showfear and sat down to weave next to Athene.

~A~CHNE~

Think aboutthe two main characters in the myth. Then complete he Summary Chart below.In the two top boxes, write details about the two main characters. In the larg.e box, make~en.efa:ffZittmns-about how myths helil' you understand the: wcrdd.

Arachne Athene