Essays

(Ademollo 1832)

Context Essay (390 words)

The story of Arachne and Minerva begins with book six, a little less than halfway through Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Arachne, a Maeonian commoner renowned for her weaving, angered Minerva, the goddess of weaving notable for helping Ulysses, after she claimed she could beat her in a weaving contest. The goddess appeared to her in the form of an old woman and warned her against challenging the gods, to which Arachne belittled her. In response, Minerva revealed her true form, accepting Arachne’s challenge. Whereas Minerva’s work celebrated the gods, Arachne’s work belittled them. Minerva showed them demonstrating their power and accomplishments. In the corners were images of humans who were punished for challenging the gods, a threat to Arachne. In contrast, Arachne’s work showed the gods acting dishonorably which angered Minerva. Although she could not find any errors in Arachne’s work, she still punished her as if she lost the competition by beating her until she hung herself then turning her into a spider.

Before my story is the story of Minerva and the Muses, which describes how the muses told the goddess about a wicked man who tried to capture them and women who they turned into magpies after they foolishly challenged them to a singing competition. It is this story which inspired Minerva to confront Arachne who, like the Pierides to the Muses, was challenging her authority. After my story is the story of Niobe, a friend of Arachne and the queen of Thebes. After Arachne was turned into a spider, Niobe heard her story. Still, she acted in a prideful way, ignoring the lessons to be drawn from her friend’s fate; she boasted about her children, saying they were better and more numerous than the goddess Leto. In response, Leto killed her children.

Arachne’s story has been told through many forms. Although the story of Arachne and Minerva was likely spread orally before he wrote the Metamorphoses, Ovid’s book was the first time Arachne’s story was written in a form which has been preserved. As a result, it is impossible to tell if Ovid made any changes from the story’s usual telling. That being said, this story has since been told many times, with many changes being made. Arachne has been used as a symbol of feminine creativity, and is routinely referenced in creative works. Her name inspired the classification of arachnids used to describe spiders.

Artistic Analysis Essay (493 words)

(Rubens 1636-1637

While Pallas and Arachne by Peter Paul Rubens shares a number of elements with the story of Arachne and Minerva from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the painting has a number of changes or additions which establish a critique of Minerva’s actions. The painting is similar to Ovid’s story in a number of intentional ways. Pallas is another name for Minerva, which makes it clear Rubens intends to illustrate Arachne's story. In the foreground of his work, Rubens shows Minerva hitting a fallen Arachne with a shuttle, as in the poem. Minerva is wearing a helmet to symbolize her role as the goddess of war which aligns with traditional representations of the goddess. In the background, women are seen working, similar to the poem. Another background element found in both the painting and the poem is a tapestry hanging from the wall which depicts a woman on a bull. In Ovid’s poem, Arachne created this tapestry which shows Europa, a Phoenician princess, riding on the back of Jupiter as he is disguised as a white bull. This story is shameful for the gods because, after she got on his back, Jupiter swam her to Crete where they had an affair. These similarities to Ovid’s work make it clear Rubens is directly referencing the Metamorphoses, which draws greater attention to the changes he makes.

Inspired by his personal experience, Rubens made changes or additions to Ovid’s story of Arachne and Minerva to critique Minerva’s actions. Whereas the poem portrays the goddess as powerful and righteous when she punishes Arachne, Ruben portrays her as a violent human being. Unlike the gods and goddesses of Ovid’s works, Ruben’s Minerva is the height of a human. As she is beating Arachne, her feet are flying off the ground as if she is not powerful enough to hold herself down and is exerting herself fully while attacking a mortal. Except for her armor, she is wearing completely human clothing. Instead of dealing righteous punishment, Minerva appears to be a violent aggressor. Arachne lies defenseless on the floor with sympathetic, teary eyes, yet Minerva continues to attack her. Whereas the goddess of the poem was merciful and ultimately took pity on Arachne, Ruben’s Minerva has a straight, unfeeling face as if Arachne’s pleas or the watchful eyes of the people behind her do not matter to her. These elements culminate in a deeply critical view of the goddess and her actions, which can be explained by Ruben’s personal experience. Living 1577 to 1640, Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish Baroque painter who found success for his artistic, diplomatic, and scholarly skills. He was highly educated which likely supported his critical views of ancient divine authority. He was also a devout Catholic, which would have incentivized critical views of foreign gods. His father, Jan Rubens, was persecuted for his religion, which likely normalized critical views of other peoples’ gods in his eyes. These factors ultimately allowed him to look at Minerva’s actions critically.