In Lybia lived a beautiful young woman named Arachne, who was also a master weaver. Her skills surpassed that of all other mortals. Eventually she boasted that she was better at the art than even Athena. Athena heard and came to accept the challenge. She told Arachne to realize who She was or pay the price. Arachne refused and instead challenged the Goddess to a weaving contest. While Arachne was able to create wondrous scenes of human life, Athena was able to show the gorgeousness of the heavens that no human had ever before seen. Arachne lost.
The punishment Athena inflicted was to turn her into an insect, but still making sure that the woman's exceptional skills would not go to waste. And so, Arachne was turned into a spider, to weave beautiful webs for the rest of eternity.
