Unfortunately, I do not know what species of spider this is, though I am sure it is some kind of grass spider. I have only recently begun photographing insects (as can be read on the bio page, I started out focusing on birds and animals).

I took this shot at 200mm from about a foot and a half away using my Sigma 70-300mm apochromatic lens at f/8, 1/60, using my Nikon 5T close-up filter. When I first spotted this spider, I was scouring my yard for new shoots of new flowers. I almost missed her, tucked away, and half covered behind a pedal of a beautiful Blue Flag (wild blue iris, iris versicolor, http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/i/iriver11.html). The contrast of her nature and the nature of the flower intrigued me, the one designed to propagate life, the other to consume it (though, of course, a spider lays its own eggs as well), so I ran inside to grab my equipment. But when I came back, it was their similarities that ensnared me completely as I recalled a story I once heard (which I get to further down in the description).

Spiders, though I admit to being afraid of them, are beautiful creatures. Their evolution has honed them to a fine degree, and they are quite perfectly suited for what they do. Recently we have begun to create a technology based on their silk. Uses for spider silk can be seen at http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_edpik/ps_5.htm.

They have been a symbol of mysticism, the moon, and Fate since antiquity.

The Greeks explained the origins of the spider through the myth of Arachne, a wonderfully tragic tale with a deep backdrop of beauty after which I named the photograph. Firstly, you need some background information on Greek mythology. Athena, daughter of Zeus, born from out of his head after consuming her mother, born in full war gear screaming her infamous war cry, was goddess of civilized war, as opposed to Ares, who was the god of the carnal frenzy of war, the bloodlust and the hacking and butchering. Athena was a beacon of civilization, and Zeus’ own proclaimed favourite child. For women, she was the goddess of the crafts of women, primarily and most importantly weaving, as it was a woman’s job in the household to weave and make the clothes for the men and children, for which they had their own special room in the home. Secondly, one needs a little information on ancient Greek culture in relation to the myths. The Greeks took their gods very literally, and saw them as having the psychology of a man if he was given power and immortality and could live without consequence. Thus, they were taught to be quite vengeful and tempestuous. Hubris was when a person showed excessive pride in the face of the gods, and was never left unpunished in the myths (basically just a control method for the religion to keep its strength of influence within the people as it kept them from challenging the gods’ legitimacy). Now that we have set the scene, the story goes:

Arachne was an extremely talented weaver. Her blankets were the finest in all of the Aegean (named after Theseus’ father, Aegeus, who threw himself from a cliff when he thought his son was returning to him dead, though it was that his son was alive and forgot to change his black sails, see http://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/theseus.html). People, and even nymphs, loved to watch her weave, and rumoured that she was educated by the goddess Athena. Arachne was born into a common family, but through her skill, she achieved great fame. Nevertheless, Arachne refused the suggestion that she was beneath the goddess in status of skill, and said, “Let her compete with me; if she wins I deny her nothing” (Ovid’s Metamorphoses, excerpt taken from p. 164, Classical Mythology 7th ed., Mark P.O Morford and Robert J. Lenardon, Oxford University Press, New York, 2003).

Athena descended, then, disguised as an old woman, and pleaded with Arachne to retract her challenge, but Arachne refused. So, Athena revealed herself and accepted the challenge. Arachne flushed throughout the face once, and that was all (Mark P.O Morford and Robert J. Lenardon, p.165). Athena wove a tapestry depicting her conquest for the city of Athens with Poseidon, as well as four examples of human hubris avenged. Arachne wove an equally masterful tapestry that showed scenes of the shameful love affairs of gods with mortals, among them being the myth of Ledo. Athena, being unable to find any flaw in the work, tears it to pieces in her anger and jealousy. She strikes Arachne repeatedly. Ashamed, Arachne flees and hangs herself. As she watches the now wretched mortal die, Athena has pity, and transform the girl into the first spider, hence the name arachnids.

For more information on Greek mythology, pick up these books:
Grant, Michael and Hazel, John. Gods and Mortals in Classical Mythology. Michael Grant Publications Ltd., Great Britain, 1973.
Homer. The Iliad. University of Chicago, Chicago, 1961.
Homer. The Odyssey. University of Chicago, Chicago, 1961.
Lenardon, Robert J. and Morford, Mark P.O. Classical Mythology: Seventh Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003.
Morris, Ian and Powell, Barry B. The Greeks: History, Culture, and Society. Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2005.
Tresidder, Jack (Ed.). The Complete Dictionary of Symbols in Myth, Art, and Literature. Duncan Baird Publishers, London, 2004.