Throughout history, spiders have been depicted in popular culture, mythology, and symbolism. From African folklore to Greek mythology, the spider has been used to represent a variety of things, and endures into the present day with characters such as Shelob from The Lord of the Rings and Spider-Man from the eponymous comic series. It is also a symbol of mischief and malice for its toxic venom and the slow death it causes, which is often seen as a curse. In addition, the spider has inspired creations from an ancient geoglyph to a modern steampunk spectacle. Spiders have been the focus of fears, stories and mythologies of various cultures for centuries.
The spider has symbolized patience and persistence due to its hunting technique of setting webs and waiting for its prey to become ensnared. Numerous cultures attribute the spider's ability to spin webs with the origin of spinning, textile weaving, basket weaving, knotwork, string games and net making. Spiders are associated with creation myths because they seem to weave their own artistic worlds. Philosophers often use the spider's web as a metaphor or analogy, and today, terms such as the Internet or World Wide Web evoke the inter-connectivity of a spider web.
Many goddesses associated with spiders and other female portrayals reflect observations of their specific female-dominated copulation.Andrade, Maydianne C. B. Behavioral Ecology (2003), 14:531–538
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. The spider was syncretically associated with the goddess Neith of Ancient Egypt (merging with Mesometanian Inanna and Astarte of the Near East) in her aspect as spinner and weaver of destiny, this link continuing through the Babylonian Ishtar deity and associated with the mortal Greek Arachne.
Near East
Uttu, the ancient Sumerian goddess of weaving, was often depicted as a spider spinning her web. In the myth of the water god Enki and Ninsikila, the mountain mother goddess, Uttu is presented as Enki's daughter. The narrative recounts that Enki's wife, Ninhursag, warned Uttu that Enki sought sexual intimacy with her. Uttu then enclosed herself within her web, but eventually allowed Enki to enter after he offered marriage and a gift of fresh produce. After consuming the produce, the myth states that Enki brought her beer. After she became intoxicated from the beer, Enki raped her in an attempt to consummate the marriage. Hearing Uttu's distress, Ninhursag intervened, extracting Enki's bodily fluid from her and planting it in the ground, which then gave rise to eight new types of plants.
Muslim tradition often suggests that spiders should be respected. This belief is partly attributed to a widely recounted story According to this narrative, when Muhammad and Abu Bakr took refuge in the Cave of Thawr, a spider spun a web across the cave's entrance. The undisturbed nature of this web, (along with a dove's nest) at the entrance led their Quraysh pursuers to believe that no one could have recently entered the cave without disturbing these natural elements, thereby causing them to bypass the hiding place. Additionally, the Quran includes a parable in Surah Al-Ankabut (Chapter 29, "The Spider"), which states: 'The parable of those who take protectors other than Allah is that of the spider who takes refuge in a house. And indeed, the flimsiest of houses is the house of the spider, if they only knew." While this parable uses the spider's web as a metaphor for the fragility of reliance on anything other than Allah, the naming of a Surah after the spider signifies its symbolic importance within Islamic discourse.
A similar story to the spider cave Hadith appears in the Alphabet of Sirach about the story of David hiding in a cave from Saul found in 1 Samuel: 24. David asks God about the purpose of spiders (and wasps) to the world. God explains that he will understand their purpose in due time. Later, when David is a fugitive and Saul examines the cave in which David is hiding, he noticed a spider and web at the cave's entrance. Saul concludes that David could not be hiding in the cave. When David exits the cave, he kisses and blesses the spider.Alphabet of Sirach cited in
Ancient Greece and Rome
A notable ancient legend from the Western canon that explains the origin of the spider is the Greek myth of Arachne, a story of a weaving competition between the mortal Arachne and the goddess Athena. While its precise origins are debated, possibly stemming from Lydian mythology, the myth was briefly mentioned by Virgil in 29 BC, and became widely known through Ovid's poem Metamorphoses, written between AD 2 and 8.Ovid Metamorphoses (vi.5–54 and 129–145), also mentioned in Virgil's Georgics, iv, 246. The Greek word "arachne" (αράχνη) means "spider", and is the origin of Arachnida, the spiders' taxonomic class.
The myth of Arachne recounts her story of being a renowned weaver from Hypaepa of Lydia; as the daughter of a prominent Tyrian purple wool dyer. Arachne's skill in weaving led her to boast that she surpassed even the goddess Athena. Challenging Athena to a contest, Arachne wove a tapestry depicting the infidelities of the Olympian gods while Athena depicted her victory over Poseidon that earned her the patronage of Athens. Though Athena acknowledged the flawless quality of Arachne's work, she was enraged by the mortal's extreme hubris. In a fit of anger, Athena destroyed Arachne's tapestry and loom. Overcome with shame and despair, Arachne then attempted to hang herself. Taking pity on her, Athena transformed Arachne into a spider, sprinkling her with a magical liquid "—and ever since, Arachne, as a spider, weaves her web."
A lesser-known variation of the myth, apparently originating in Attica, states that Athena transformed both Arachne and her brother Phalanx (whose name also translates to spider) into spiders for committing incest, a violation against her teachings.
Scholar Robert Graves proposed that Ovid's tale may have its roots in the commercial rivalry between the Athenian citizenry of Greece and Miletus in Asia Minor, a city that flourished around 2000 BC. In Miletus, the spider may have been an important figure, as evidenced by seals with spider emblems recovered from the site.
Africa
In Ancient Egyptian mythology, the goddess Neith, by virtue of her association with weaving, is also linked to spiders. In African traditional folklore, the spider is often personified as a trickster character. The most prominent example from West Africa is Kwaku Ananse of the Ashanti, anglicized as Aunt Nancy (or Sister Nancy) in the West Indies and other parts of the Americas, among many incarnations.
Stories of Ananse became such a central part of Ashanti oral culture that the word Anansesem—"spider tales"—came to encompass all kinds of fables. These narratives were subsequently transmitted as Anansi toree to children of Maroon people and other Africans in the diaspora. These tales are allegorical stories that often also teach a moral lesson. Similarly, Major A.J.N. Tremearne observed that the Hausa also view the spider with high esteem as the most cunning of all animals and the king of all stories, even employing similar narrative storytelling devices of the Akan-Ashanti by attributing each of them to the spider, identified as GizzoTremearne, A. J. N. (Arthur John Newman). Hausa Superstitions And Customs: an Introduction to the Folk-lore And the Folk. London: J. Bale, sons & Danielsson, ltd., 1913. p. 31-32. or Gizo in the Hausa language.
Americas
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. In some Native American myths, the spider is also seen in the legend about the origin 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 Hopi have the creation myth of Spider Grandmother. In this story, Spider Grandmother thought the world into existence through the conscious weaving of her webs. Spider Grandmother also plays an important role in the creation mythology of the Navajo, and there are stories relating to Spider Woman in the heritage of many Southwestern native cultures as a powerful helper and teacher. In Mesoamerica, the Great Goddess of Teotihuacan may represent a similar figure.
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. An adobe spider-god temple of the Cupisnique culture was discovered in the Lambayeque Region of Peru. It is part of the Ventarron temple complex and is known as Collud. The Cupisnique spider deity was associated with hunting nets, textiles, war, and power. One image depicts spider deities holding nets filled with decapitated human heads.
Oceania 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 that also have 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); similarly, Areop-Enap ("Old Spider") plays an important part in the creation myth of the traditional Nauru islanders of Micronesia.
Asia
The Tsuchigumo (translated as "Earth spiders") of Japan, is a mythical, supernatural creature faced by the legendary Minamoto no Raiko. Depending on the version of the story, the Tsuchigumo was able to take the visage of either a boy or a woman. In one version, while on a search for a mythical giant skull, Raiko is lured to a dilapidated house using an illusion of a floating skull. Raiko and his companion Watanabe no Tsuna killed the Tsuchigumo at the end of the story, releasing spiders the size of children from its belly.
Another Japanese mythological spider figure is the Jorōgumo ("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 Trichonephila clavata (Jorō-gumo, which translates to "binding bride" or "whore spider").
In the Philippines, there is a Visayan folk tale version of The Spider and the Fly which explains why the spider hates the fly.
Post-classical Europe The 10th-century Saint Conrad of Constance is sometimes represented as a bishop holding a chalice with a spider. According to this story, while he was celebrating Easter Mass, a spider fell into the chalice. Ignoring the commonly held belief of the time that all or most spiders were poisonous, as a token of faith, Conrad nevertheless drank the wine with the spider in it.