Question

Identify the purposes of myth found in the story of Arachne and explain how it illustrates each purpose.

Answer 1

It tells the story of how spiders came to weave their webs. Perhaps it could be an entertaining story that for fills the purpose of early literature.

Answer 2

The purpose of the story is to tell why spiders came to be. As such, it fits into other myths explaining natural phenomena. The Greek and Latin word for spiders is “arachna”, and the modern scientific classification for the family of animals to which spiders belong is “arachnida”.