Which mythological weaver gives arachnids their name?

The mythological weaver who gives arachnids their name is Arachne. In Greek tradition, her name is connected with the word for spider and ultimately with the scientific term “arachnid.”

The best-known version appears in Book 6 of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, written during the early Roman imperial period. Arachne was a mortal weaver from Lydia who became so confident in her skill that she challenged Minerva, the Roman counterpart of Athena, to a weaving contest. Her tapestry was exceptionally beautiful, but its subject matter offended the goddess.

After Minerva destroyed the work and Arachne took her own life, the goddess transformed her into a spider. The story provided a mythic explanation for spiders’ web-spinning and served as a warning against hubris. It is not Athena herself who supplies the name, even though Athena or Minerva is the rival in the contest.

The scientific group Arachnida includes spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, harvestmen, and several less familiar lineages. They are united by features such as four pairs of walking legs as adults, not by the myth alone.