Cultural Depictions of Spiders - in Folklore and Mythology

In Folklore and Mythology

The spider, along with its web, is featured in mythological fables, cosmology, artistic spiritual depictions, and in oral traditions throughout the world since ancient times.

In Ancient Egypt, the spider was associated with the goddess Neith in her aspect as spinner and weaver of destiny, this link continuing later through the Babylonian Ishtar and the Greek Athena, who was later equated as the Roman goddess Minerva.

The most notable ancient legend that explains the origin of the spider comes from the Greek story of the weaving competition between Athena the goddess, and the sometimes princess Arachne. This story may have originated in Lydian mythology; but the myth, briefly mentioned by Virgil in 29 BC, is known from the later Greek mythos after Ovid wrote the poem Metamorphoses between the years AD 2 and 8. The Greek Arachne (αράχνη) means "spider", and is the origin of Arachnida, the spiders' Class in taxonomy.

This myth tells of Arachne, the daughter of a famous Tyrian purple dyer in Hypaipa of Lydia. Due to her father's skill with cloth dyeing, Arachne was adept in the art of weaving. Eventually, she began to consider herself to be a greater weaver than the goddess Athena herself, and challenged the goddess to a weaving contest to prove her superior skill. Athena wove the scene of her victory over Poseidon that had earned her the patronage of Athens, while Arachne wove a tapestry featuring 21 episodes of infidelity amongst the Gods of Olympus, which angered Athena. The goddess conceded that Arachne's weaving was flawless, but she was infuriated by the mortal's pride. In a final moment of anger, Athena destroyed Arachne's tapestry and loom with her shuttle and cursed Arachne to live with extreme guilt. Out of sadness, Arachne soon hanged herself. Taking pity on her, Athena brought her back to life as a spider using the poison aconite, and made sure that the spider forever after retained Arachne's weaving abilities.

The scholar Robert Graves proposed Ovid's tale may have its roots in the commercial rivalry between the Athenian citizenry of Greece and that of Miletus on the isle of Crete in Asia Minor, which flourished around 2000 BC. In Miletus, the spider may have been an important figure; seals with spider emblems have been recovered there.

In African mythology, the spider is personified as a creation deity Anansi, and as a trickster character in African traditional folklore. There are many variations of the name including Kwaku Ananse in West Africa and anglicized as Aunt Nancy (or Sister Nancy) in the West Indies and some other parts of the Americas. Anansi toree are "spider tales"; stories that have been brought over from Africa and told to children of Maroon people. These tales are allegorical stories that teach a moral lesson.

North American cultures have traditionally depicted spiders. The Native American Lakota people's oral tradition also includes a spider-trickster figure, which is known by several names. As chronicled in the legend of The "Wasna" (Pemmican) Man and the Unktomi (Spider), a man encounters a hungry spider family, and the hero Stone Boy is tricked out of his fancy clothes by Unktomi, a trickster spider figure. The spider is also present as the deity Iktomi, which is occasionally depicted in this form. In Native American mythology, the spider is also seen in the legend about the birth of the constellation Ursa Major. The constellation was seen as seven men transformed into stars and climbing to paradise by unrolling a spider's web. The Navajo have the creation myth of Spider Grandmother. In this story, Spider Grandmother created all things through the shimmering threads that came out of her belly.

The South American Moche people of ancient Peru worshiped nature; they placed emphasis on animals and often depicted spiders in their art. The people of the Nazca culture created expansive geoglyphs, including a large depiction of a spider on the Nazca plain in southern Peru. The purpose or meaning of the so-called "Nazca lines" is still uncertain.

Spiders are depicted in Indigenous Australian art, in rock and bark paintings, and for clan totems. Spiders in their webs are associated with a sacred rock in central Arnhem Land on the Burnungku clan estate of the Rembarrnga/Kyne people. Their totem design is connected with a major regional ceremony, providing a connection with neighboring clans also having spider totems in their rituals. Nareau, the Lord Spider, created the universe, according to the traditional Cosmology of Oceania's Kiribati islanders of the Tungaru archipelago (Gilbert Islands). In the Philippines, there is a Visayan folk tale version of The Spider and the Fly which explains why the spider hates the fly.

The Tsuchigumo (translated as "Earth spiders") of Japan, were both a mythical ethnic group said to live in caverns beneath the mountains in the Japanese Alps until at least the Asuka period, and a mythical, supernatural creature faced by the character Minamoto no Raiko. Although the term Tsuchigumo was also loosely used for bandits and thieves, depending on the version of the story, the Tsuchigumo in the Minamoto no Raiko legend was able to take the visage of either a boy or a woman. In one version, while on a search for a giant mythical giant skull, Minamoto is lured to a house and placed in an illusion created by a Tsuchigumo in the guise of a young boy. However, after suspecting foul play, Minamoto breaks this illusion by striking out at him with his sword. Minamoto then discovers himself as actually being covered in a spider's web, and after tracking him down, learns that the boy is in reality, a giant spider Tsuchigumo.

Additional mythological figures in Japan include the seductive Jorōgumo ("whore spider" or "prostitute spider") which is portrayed as being able to transform into a seductive woman. In some instances, the Jorōgumo attempts to seduce and perhaps marry passing samurai. In other instances she is venerated as a goddess dwelling in the Jōren Falls who saves people from drowning. Her name also refers to a golden orb-spider species Nephila clavata (Jorō-gumo, or Jorō spider).

An Islamic oral tradition holds that during the Hijra, the journey from Mecca to Medina, the Prophet Muhammad and his companion Abu Bakr were being pursued by Quraysh soldiers, and they decided to take refuge in the Cave of Thawr. The tale goes on to say that Allah commanded a spider to weave a web across the opening of the cave. After seeing the spider's web, the Quraysh pass the cave by, since the Prophet's entry to the cave would have broken the web. Since then, it has been held in many Muslim traditions that a spider is, if not holy, then it is at least to be respected. A similar story occurs in the Jewish tradition, where it is David who is being chased by King Saul. David hides in a cave, and Saul and his men do not bother to search the cave because while David was hiding inside, a spider had spun a web over the mouth of the cave.

The 10th Century Saint Conrad of Constance is sometimes represented as a bishop holding a chalice with a spider in it or over it. According to this story, while he was celebrating Mass, a spider fell into the chalice. Spiders were believed at that time to be deadly poisonous. As a token of faith Conrad nevertheless drank the wine with the spider in it.

For King Robert the Bruce of Scotland, the spider is depicted as an inspirational symbol, according to a famous early 14th century legend. There are many versions of the story, and historians are unsure of the legend's truth and suggest that it is apocryphal. The legend tells of Robert the Bruce's encounter with a spider during the time of a series of military failures against the English. One version tells that while taking refuge in a cave on Rathlin Island, he witnesses a spider continuously failing to climb its silken thread to its web. However, due to perseverance the spider eventually succeeds, demonstrating that, "if at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again". Taking this as being symbolic of hope and perseverance, Bruce came out of hiding and eventually won Scotland's independence.