Analyze the way that arts and crafts become a kind of war in the story Essay

Analyze the way that arts and crafts become a kind of war in the story of Arachne (The source for this paper is Book V ofOvid. I am attaching it below) - Essay Example My aim in this paper is to study the classical tale of the legendary weaver and derive lesson from the research. To fulfill this aim, I have divided the study in to six sections. I start this study by presenting an overview or background of this classical mythological tale, followed by describing the characteristics of Minerva and Arachne. I will then move forward to elaborate the conflict that took the shape of a contest whose result left Arachne embarrassed and broken. I will try to highlight the beauty of this tale and what moral lesson one can derive from this classical description. I have tried to include some of the best artist’s work who were inspired by this tale and produced various art forms depicting the contest between Athena and Arachne and finally the consequences of the battle. I will conclude this essay by my own observation and remarks. ‘Metamorphoses’, an epic poem by Ovid; dates back to around 8 AD. It narrates a story about a mortal lady whose name was Arachne, who was an excellent weaver and out of arrogance about her craft; she proclaimed that her weaving standard was far more superior to the crafts of the goddess of the art Minerva. Minerva, who is the daughter of the supreme god Zeus ;challenges Arachne to enter in a contest to prove her superiority and she held a condition that Arachne will never spin or weave again if she loses. When the contest ends, Arachne realizes her mistake and out of embarrassment hangs herself to death by committing suicide. Athena too realizes that she never meant to bring this rival that far and brings back Arachne to life but transform her in to a spider who weaves with her hands and legs. (Ovid 129-133). Minerva or Athena is a Greek goddess of Arts, wisdom, skill and war. It is believed that she came out of her fathers head, fully grown and there are yet many different version of her birth. Many artists in history have depicted this goddess and she is often pictured as a woman with full armor who