The myth of the arachne summary. PR in ancient mythology

Vakhromeeva Anna

Athena and Arachne

Summary of the myth

Statue of Athena
(type "Pallada Giustiniani"
in the gardens of Peterhof

Athena is one of the main and most revered goddesses of the Greek Olympus. To herself, she demands sacred reverence and respect. Athena severely punished everyone who did not recognize her cult or dared to enter into an argument with her. Great was her anger at Arachne, who dared to question the piety of the gods of Olympus.*

Throughout Lydia, Arachne was famous for her art. Nymphs often gathered from the slopes of Tmol and from the banks of the gold-bearing Paktol to admire her work. Arachne spun from threads like fog, fabrics as transparent as air. She was proud that she had no equal in the world in the art of weaving.

Once she exclaimed: “Let Pallas Athena herself come to compete with me! Do not defeat me; I'm not afraid of it."

And now, under the guise of a gray-haired, hunched old woman, leaning on a staff, the goddess Athena appeared before Arachne and said to her: “Old age brings more than one evil, Arachne: years bring experience. Heed my advice: strive to surpass only mortals with your art. Don't challenge the goddess to a match. Humbly pray to her to forgive you for your arrogant words, the goddess forgives those who pray.

Arachne dropped the thin yarn from her hands, her eyes flashed with anger. Confident in her art, she boldly answered: “You are unreasonable, old woman, old age has deprived you of reason. Read such instructions to your daughters-in-law and daughters, but leave me alone. I can give myself advice. What I said, so be it. Why doesn't Athena come, why doesn't she want to compete with me?

"I'm here, Arachne!" the goddess exclaimed, assuming her true form.

Nymphs and Lydian women bowed low before the beloved daughter of Zeus and praised her.

Spinners. Contest between Athena and Arachne
Velazquez, 1657, Prado

Only Arachne remained silent. Just as the sky lights up with a scarlet light in the early morning, when the pink-fingered Dawn-Eos takes off into the sky on its sparkling wings, so the face of Athena flushed with the color of anger. Arachne stands on her decision, she still passionately wants to compete with Athena. She does not foresee that she is in danger of an imminent death. The competition has begun. The great goddess Athena wove the majestic Athenian Acropolis on her bedspread in the middle, and on it depicted her dispute with Poseidon for power over Attica. The twelve bright gods of Olympus, and among them her father, Zeus the Thunderer, sit as judges in this dispute. Poseidon, the shaker of the earth, raised his trident, hit it on the rock, and a salty spring gushed out of the barren rock. And Athena, wearing a helmet, with a shield and aegis, shook her spear and plunged it deep into the ground. A sacred olive grew out of the ground. The gods awarded the victory to Athena, recognizing her gift to Attica as more valuable. In the corners, the goddess depicted how the gods punish people for disobedience, and around it she wove a wreath of olive leaves. Arachne depicted on her coverlet many scenes from the life of the gods, in which the gods are weak, obsessed with human passions.

Gustav Klimt, Pallas Athena, 1898, Vienna

All around, Arachne wove a wreath of flowers intertwined with ivy. The height of perfection was the work of Arachne, she was not inferior in beauty to the work of Athena, but in her images one could see disrespect for the gods, even contempt. Athena was terribly angry, she tore the work of Arachne and hit her with a shuttle. The unfortunate Arachne could not bear the shame; she twisted the rope, made a noose and hanged herself.

Athena freed Arachne from the loop and told her: “Live, rebellious.

But you will hang forever and weave forever, and this punishment will last in your offspring.

Athena sprinkled Arachne with the juice of magical grass, and immediately her body shrank, thick hair fell from her head, and she turned into a spider. Since then, the Arachne spider has been hanging in its web and forever weaving it, as it did in life.

Images and symbols of myth

Athenian Parthenon

Athena- the goddess of wisdom, knowledge and just war, the patroness of cities and states, sciences and crafts. The image of Athena as the goddess of war is associated among the Greeks, first of all, only with fair and prudent actions. She was one of the most revered goddesses of Greece, competing in importance with Zeus. Athena was depicted in the image of Pallas (victorious warrior) or Poliada (patron of cities and states). From the name of Pallas came the word "palladium" (a wooden image of Athena, which had a miraculous effect). Athena is easily distinguishable from other ancient Greek goddesses due to her unusual appearance. She uses male attributes- dressed in armor, holding a spear; she is also accompanied by sacred animals. On the head of Athena helmet(as a rule, Corinthian - with a high crest). Also, among the indispensable attributes of Athens- aegis- a goat-skin shield with the head of the Gorgon Medusa, which has tremendous magical power, frightens gods and people. The sacred tree of Athena was Olive. The olives of Athena were considered "trees of fate" and Athena herself was thought of as fate and the Great Mother Goddess, who is known in archaic mythology as the parent and destroyer of all living things. The olive among the ancient Greeks was considered a sacred tree, a symbol of fertility and victory. The ancient zoomorphic past of the goddess is indicated by her attributes - snake, an animal representing wisdom, and owl, a bird with bulging, mysterious and, as can be judged by its behavior, intelligent eyes. The image of an owl was minted on silver Athenian coins, and everyone who accepted the "owl" in exchange for their goods seemed to be paying honors to Athena herself. Homer calls Athena "owl-eyed", the Orphic hymn - "variegated snake". Athena is the patroness of snakes; in the temple of Athena in Athens, according to Herodotus, there lived a huge snake - the guardian of the acropolis, dedicated to the goddess. The origins of Athena's wisdom in her chthonic past go back to the image of the goddess with snakes of the Crete-Mycenaean period. These images lead to the most ancient period: an owl and a snake guarded the palace of the Minotaur in Crete, and the image of the goddess with a shield of the Mycenaean time is the prototype of the Olympic Athena.

Arachne (Spider) in the myth of the Greeks and Egyptians it is a symbol of fate, it is also associated with a symbol of weaving. The image of Arachne among the Greeks symbolizes pride and disobedience. Subsequently, the name of Arachne gave the name to the whole science that studies spiders - arachnology.

Communicative means of creating images and symbols

Phidias "Athena Parthenos"

First of all, numerous sanctuaries and temples contributed to the formation of attitudes towards Athena, the most famous of which is the Athenian Parthenon. In 488 BC The Athenian Parthenon was laid to thank Athena for the victory over the Persians in Marathon. The most successful incarnations of the image of the goddess Athena are associated with the Athenian Parthenon, an amazing monument of Greek architecture. Patronizing the Greek people, she was honored to be sculpted on the main square of the Parthenon by the famous sculptor Phidias. Her helmet was decorated with a sphinx - a symbol of the divine mind, above the visor - eight horses - a symbol of the speed of thought, on the sides - 2 griffins.

Roman bronze statuette
Paris, Louvre

In Attica, Athena is the main deity of the country. She was awarded this honor because she managed to defeat Poseidon himself. Numerous statuettes of the goddess have survived (for example, "Athena letting go of an owl"). Separate scenes of the myths about Athena are reflected in the relief plasticity of the temples; for example, a multi-figure group on the eastern pediment of the Parthenon depicts the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus, on the western pediment the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for possession of the land of Attica is embodied. Scenes dedicated to the birth of Athena, her participation in gigantomachy and the Trojan War, and a dispute with Poseidon were common in Greek vase painting. There are images of Athena on the Pompeian frescoes.

Birth of the goddess Athena
Painting on a black-figure vase

Athena was revered in Greece. In addition to Athens, several acropolises were dedicated to her - Argos, Sparta, Megara, Troy, Troezen, Epidaurus-Limera, Fenei, Levktra, Crown, Skepsis, Acragas.

The Spanish artist Velasquez used the plot of the myth of Arachne in one of his paintings "Spinners", where he showed the work of weavers in the royal carpet workshop. In the depths of a brightly lit room, elegant ladies are examining a finished tapestry depicting the myth of Athena's victory over Arachne in the art of carpet weaving.

Groves were rarely dedicated to Athena, although Homer already mentions the sacred poplar grove of Athena on the island of theacs. Sacred olive trees made up the grove of Academ in Athens. Also known is the grove of Athena in Tiforea (Boeotia), the sacred grove of Athena in Linda.

In the Renaissance, Athena is depicted in accordance with the ancient artistic tradition - in a shell and a helmet - in works of an allegorical nature. In a number of scenes, including those extremely popular in the 15th-17th centuries. In the multi-figure compositions "Parnassus", which are adjoined by the scenes "Athena among the Muses" (paintings by N. Poussin, C. Lorrain, etc.), Athena appears as the personification of wisdom. Athena also symbolizes the triumph of reason (“Athena conquers ignorance” by B. Spranger, “The Kingdom of Athena” by A. Elsheimer), virtue and chastity (“Pallas and the Centaur” by S. Botticelli, “Victory of Virtue over Sin” by A. Mantegna), peace ( "Athena and Hades" by J. Tintoretto, P. Veronese and others). Athena acts both as the patroness of weaving and as the personification of the month of March (a tradition inherited from the Romans) in the images of the seasons. A direct appeal to the myths about Athena in painting is quite rare, mainly in scenes associated with such characters as Arachne, Hercules, Paris.

Poetry mentions the grove of Athena and Artemis on Kos and the grove near the temple of Athena on Lemnos, where (according to Statius) the Lemnian women swear to kill their husbands. Virgil speaks of the "Palladine Groves" with an olive tree.

In the musical and dramatic art, the myths about Athena served as a plot for the libretto of a few works of the 17th-18th centuries. (mainly of an allegorical nature), including the operas The Birth of Athena by A. Draghi; "Minerva" by R. Kaiser; Pallas and Mars by M. Grimani; Pallas Triumphant by F. B. Conti; cantatas "The Dispute of Pallas and Venus" by L. Caldara and "Pallada" by P. V. Guglielmi.

Agricultural holidays were dedicated to her: procharisteria (in connection with the germination of bread), plintheria (the beginning of the harvest), arrhephoria (giving dew for crops), callinteria (fruit ripening), skyrophoria (drought aversion). During these festivities, the washing of the statue of Athena took place, the young men took an oath of civil service to the goddess. The feast of the great panathenas, the apotheosis of Athena, the wisdom of the state, was of a universal character.

The social significance of the myth

Athena among the Muses N. Poussin

The goddess of wisdom, Athena is known for her strategic genius and practicality. Athena represents the pattern followed by women who have a logical mindset and are guided more by reason than by heart. As "daughter of her father", Athena makes a woman a supporter of patriarchal values ​​and the legitimacy of male power. **

The ancient Greeks loved and respected Athena very much. It is believed that it was she who gave people many of her inventions - a flute, a pipe, a ceramic pot, a plow, a rake, a yoke for oxen, bridles for horses, a chariot and a ship. She was the first to teach the art of counting and all women's needlework, including culinary arts, weaving and spinning. For the Athenians, the virginity of their goddess was a symbol of the impregnability of their city, and therefore they changed the ancient myths that told about the violence against her by Poseidon and Boreas; they also denied that Erichthonius, Apollo, and Lychnos ("lamp") were her sons by Hephaestus. Being the goddess of war, she, however, did not feel joy in battles, like Ares or Eris, she preferred to resolve disputes and establish the law peacefully. In peaceful days, she did not carry a weapon, and when she needed it, she took it from Zeus. She was famous for her kindness: when in the Areopagus, during the trial of the accused, the judges disagreed, she always cast her vote in favor of the release of the accused. However, once engaged in battle, she was never defeated even in battle with Ares himself, surpassing him in tactics and strategy. Therefore, wise leaders always turned to her for advice.

Arachne's vengeance may be more than a sweet parable, especially if this narrative reflects the commercial rivalry between the Athenians and the Lydio-Carian thalassocrats, or "lords of the seas", of Cretan origin. In Cretan Miletus, from which the Carian Miletus was founded, which was considered the largest exporter of dyed woolen fabrics in the ancient world, numerous seals with an emblem in the form of a spider were discovered. This suggests the presence in this city of a developed textile industry at the beginning of the second millennium BC. For some time the Milesians controlled the lucrative Pontic trade and had warehouses in Naucratis (Egypt). Athens had good reason to be jealous of the spider. Athena, as the patroness of Athens, perhaps that is why she turned Arachne into a spider, an insect she hated. ***

*Danilova G.I. World art culture 5-6 cells, M, 1999.

** Jin Shinoda Bolen. Goddesses in every woman. New psychology of woman. Goddess archetypes

Arachne (myth of ancient Greece)

Arachne was born in a family of ordinary people. Her mother died when Arachne was still small, and her father, the fabric dyer Idmon, also died after her. Arachne was left alone, and in order to earn a living, she wove the canvas and embroidered beautiful patterns on it. Arachne became such a skilled craftswoman that soon her fame spread throughout Lydia. From everywhere people came to the poor house of Arachne to look at her amazing art, nymphs from the banks of the gold-bearing Pactol gathered to admire her work. The canvases of Arachne were so good that everyone began to call her a student of the great Pallas Athena. But Arachne knew that in the whole world she had no equal in skill, and was not at all going to share her glory with the great goddess.

And then one day the proud Arachne exclaimed:
“Even if Pallas Athena herself comes to compete with me, she still cannot defeat me. I'll pledge anything!
Athena heard these proud words, under the guise of a gray-haired, hunched old woman, she appeared before Arachne and said to her:
“Oh Arachne, Arachne, never be proud of what the great gods have given you. And remember. There is one good property in the elderly: with age comes experience. Heed my advice, Arachne, try only to surpass mortals with your art. And if you now ask the goddess for forgiveness for impudent words, then she will forgive you.
But Arachne did not heed the wise advice, she let go of the thin yarn from her hands and angrily exclaimed:
“I don’t want to listen to your instructions, foolish old woman. Read them to others, but leave me alone. I myself know what to do and what to say. Why isn't Athena coming? Or is she afraid to compete with me?
- I'm here, Arachne, - the goddess could not stand it, having taken her real form. Everyone bowed before the mighty goddess, welcoming her. Arachne alone stood silent and did not even bow her head. The great goddess blushed with anger. Well! If this proud weaver does not want to humble herself before the great goddess, then let her pay for her pride.
And then the rivals stood up on opposite sides of the machine, pulled the canvases, and the competition began. The majestic Athenian Acropolis was woven by the goddess on a marvelous canvas. She depicted on it her long-standing dispute with Poseidon, when they could not decide which of them had more power in Attica. Zeus himself and twelve other gods decided this dispute. Poseidon raised his sparkling trident, struck it against a rock, and a salty spring gushed out of an empty, lifeless stone. Opposite him stood Athena in a helmet with a shield and aegis - her permanent armor with the head of Medusa Gorgon in the center of them, with snakes around the edges. She raised her spear, shook it, and plunged deep into the ground. A sacred olive immediately grew out of the ground. The gods awarded victory to Athena, recognized her gift as stronger than the gift of Poseidon. Then a city grew up on this place, which since then bears the name of Athena. This is what Athena wove on her canvas, and in the corners she depicted how the gods punish people who try to compete with them. A wreath of olive leaves stretched around this wonderful canvas.
Arachne also depicted scenes from the life of the gods on her coverlet. She put all her art into this work, and her canvas was not inferior to the work of Athena in beauty and skill. But at the same time, their work was very different. If Athena on her canvas showed the gods in all her greatness and power, then the gods of Arachne were as sinful and weak as mere mortals. And it was clear how Arachne treated them: disrespectfully, with mockery, and even with contempt.
The face of the great goddess flared up with bright paint, she grabbed a beautiful canvas from Arachne's hands, tore it into pieces and hit Arachne with a shuttle. The unfortunate Arachne could not bear the shame, she twisted a strong rope and decided to hang herself on it. But even then the ruthless goddess did not leave the unfortunate weaver, she took her out of the noose and said:
You will live and suffer. From now on, you will hang forever and weave forever. The same retribution will fall on your offspring: on children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And even their children and grandchildren will endure this punishment.
Angry, Athena splashed the poor Arachne with a potion of the terrible goddess Hecate, and immediately her head shrank, her thick hair fell off, her body became very tiny, and thin curved, overgrown with stiff fur, legs grew on the sides. Turned into the spider Arachne. Since then, the Arachne spider has been hanging on its web forever, still pulling the thread and weaving its endless canvas.
This is how the daughter of Idmon, Arachne, paid for her arrogance and boastfulness. She wanted to rise above the majestic Athena, but turned into a nasty spider.

As everyone, of course, knows, the living world on our planet is strictly classified by scientists. All living beings are divided into types, classes, orders, families, genera and species. This classification was first introduced by the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus, and this is very good, because without a strict scientific classification it would simply be impossible to explore the living world, find analogies, connections, etc. The little inhabitants of the green Jungle, crawling, running, jumping and flying, mostly belong to the type of arthropods, with the exception of snails and slugs belonging to the type of molluscs, as well as earthworms, which belong to the type of worms. The type of arthropods is divided into several subtypes and classes, in particular, the class of insects and the class of arachnids, or arachnids. The difference between insects and arachnids is significant, but the first thing that immediately catches your eye: insects have six legs, arachnids have eight. So spiders are not insects at all.

The Latin name for arachnids is arachnids. The origin of this word is amazing.

Among the legends of ancient Greece there is a legend about the girl Arachne. Arachne was an excellent weaver: from the finest threads, she wove fabrics as transparent as air; there were no weavers equal to her. And Arachne became proud.

Let the goddess Pallas Athena herself come to compete with me! Arachne once exclaimed. “She won’t defeat me, I’m not afraid of that!”

And now, under the guise of a gray-haired, hunched old woman, leaning on a staff, the goddess Athena appeared before Arachne and said to her:

Not only evil brings with it, Arachne, old age. Years bring experience. Heed my advice: strive to surpass only mortals with your art. Don't challenge the goddess to a match. Humbly beg her to forgive you for your haughty words. The goddess forgives those who pray.

Arachne dropped the thin yarn from her hands, her eyes flashed with anger. Confident in her art, she answered boldly:

You are foolish, old woman. Old age has robbed you of your mind. Read such instructions to your daughters-in-law and daughters, but leave me alone. I can give myself advice. What I said, so be it. Why doesn't Athena come, why doesn't she want to compete with me?

I'm here, Arachne! the goddess exclaimed, assuming her true form.

Nymphs and Lydian women bowed low before the beloved daughter of Zeus and praised her. Only Arachne remained silent. Just as the sky lights up with a scarlet light in the early morning, when the pink-fingered Dawn-Eos takes off into the sky on its sparkling wings, so the face of Athena flushed with the color of anger. Arachne stands on her decision, she still passionately wants to compete with Athena. She does not foresee that she is in danger of an imminent death.

The competition has begun. The great goddess Athena wove the majestic Athenian Acropolis on her bedspread in the middle, and on it depicted her dispute with Poseidon for power over Attica. The twelve bright gods of Olympus, and among them her father, Zeus the Thunderer, sit as judges in this dispute. Poseidon, the shaker of the earth, raised his trident, hit it on the rock, and a salty spring gushed out of the barren rock. And Athena, wearing a helmet, with a shield and aegis, shook her spear and plunged it deep into the ground. A sacred olive grew out of the ground. The gods awarded victory to Athena, recognizing her gift to Attica as more valuable. In the corners, the goddess depicted how the gods punish people for disobedience, and around it she wove a wreath of olive leaves. Arachne depicted on her coverlet many scenes from the life of the gods, in which the gods are weak, obsessed with human passions. All around, Arachne wove a wreath of flowers intertwined with ivy. The height of perfection was the work of Arachne, she was not inferior in beauty to the work of Athena, but in her images one could see disrespect for the gods, even contempt. Athena was terribly angry, she tore the work of Arachne and hit her with a shuttle. The unfortunate Arachne could not bear the shame; she twisted the rope, made a noose and hanged herself. Athena freed Arachne from the loop and told her:

Live, unruly. But you will hang forever and weave forever, and this punishment will continue in your offspring.

Podushkinsky "jungle"

"Hunter" on the web

"Bedroom" "lady beatle" - ladybug. These Caucasian daisies close up at night

The filly "plays the double bass"

Athena sprinkled Arachne with the juice of magical grass, and immediately her body shrank, thick hair fell from her head, and she turned into a spider. Since that time, the Arachne spider has been hanging in its web and forever weaving it, as it did in life "(N.A. Kun. "Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece").

An exciting legend... And the truth is, it's hard not to sympathize with Arachne. Confident in her art, she was not afraid of the omnipotent goddess. She was cruelly punished for her courage, but she deserved immortality - both in human memory and in the form of the ever-reviving numerous spider-weavers...

No wonder I felt a special interest in spiders! Taking a great interest in photographing them, I did not know this legend, just as I did not know many other things. Only after meeting and becoming interested, I began to read books about these small, extremely curious creatures.

It turns out that there are a lot of spiders on earth, in fact, all land is inhabited by them, they are one of the most common animals. Already now more than 20 thousand species are known, and scientists are discovering more and more new species. There is even a whole science about spiders - araneology. But according to the araneologs themselves, these numerous small creatures have been studied so far very unevenly and incompletely. The crosses, which we talked about and to which the Turk and Gray belong (it was Athena-Pallas Arachne who, apparently, turned Athena-Pallas Arachne into a cross) is just one of the spider genera. But even this genus alone (in Latin it is called araneus) has more than a thousand species. And there are tarantula spiders, wolf spiders, wandering hunter spiders, jumping spiders, and sidewalk spiders. And they are all predators, and they all know how to weave a web.

Not everyone, however, weaves nets similar to those of crosses; some weave funnel nets, nets like canopies or hammocks. There is such a spider - it is called in Latin a mastophora - which releases one long sticky thread and, holding it in an extended front leg, swings it until an insect sticks to it. Well, why not a fisherman with a fishing rod?

Other "fishermen" went even further: their tackle resembles our basting or lift. There is such a hunter who shoots a cobweb thread at a fleeing victim, and the poor victim, deprived of the ability to move, becomes his well-deserved prey.

A small spider Dipoena tristis watches for ants, hanging on a thread above the soil. He suddenly descends on a passing ant, and then lifts him up onto a branch of a plant. Isn't it like a forest robber from Robin Hood times?

Among the crosses there are virtuosos who weave nets up to two meters in diameter. These are our largest crosses found in the Far East. But the tropical spinners, close relatives of our crosses, make nets in which not only insects, but also birds get entangled. The diameter of these networks is up to eight meters. The height of a two-three-story house! Their web, by the way, is very strong and extremely elastic - God forbid to get into such a net.

It is interesting that the web is not only dull gray or silvery, but also ... golden. “The spider of the Madagascar nephila, with a golden chest and fiery red legs in black“ socks ”, spins a web of sparkling gold,” writes I. Akimushkin in the book “First Settlers of the Land.” the giant queen rests on a carpet woven of golden wool, surrounded by nondescript male dwarfs (the female weighs five grams, and her husband is a thousand times smaller - 4 - 7 milligrams!)"

In terms of chemical composition, the web is close to the silk of silkworm caterpillars (after all, it is known how strong natural silk is), but it is much more elastic and stronger. Without breaking, the web thread can be pulled out by one third. The breaking load for the web is from 40 to 260 kilograms per square millimeter of section. In terms of strength, it approaches the highest quality nylon, but in essence, the web is stronger - it is more stretchable and elastic. They say: "thin as a web" or "light as a cobweb". Indeed, a web thread that could encircle the globe along the equator would only weigh about 300 grams! About 75 tons of cargo can be lifted on a one centimeter thick cord woven from a good web - a whole railway car!

People have long noticed the magnificent properties of the web. Attempts to make fabric from it have been made since ancient times. In China, for example, a durable lightweight translucent fabric made from cobwebs is known. It is called the "fabric of the East Sea" - tong-hai-tuan-tse. Were not similar fabrics once woven by the legendary girl Arachne?

The Polynesians in the Pacific Islands have long used the web for their own purposes. They sewed it like thread and wove fishing gear. And at the beginning of the 18th century in France, one master wove gloves and stockings from a web. And presented them to the Academy of Sciences. This master was the famous naturalist Orbigny. They say that he himself walked in pantaloons woven from the web of Brazilian nefils - they were so durable that they did not wear out for a very long time. In 1899, they even tried to get fabric to cover an airship from the web of the Madagascar spider. And we got a magnificent piece five meters long. Apparently I didn't have the patience for more...

Yes, it is difficult to breed crosses and nephil in large numbers, it is difficult to feed them. Who will catch, and where to catch such a huge number of flies, butterflies and other insects in order to saturate the army of web spinners?

In general, getting a web thread is quite simple. They plant a cross or nephil in a small cell and, directly from its spider web warts located at the end of the abdomen, wind the thread onto a spool. From one cross at one time - in a few hours - you can wind up to 500 meters of thread. What a performance!

The web, by the way, is even used in medicine. At the beginning of the last century, the Spanish pharmacologist Oliva prepared the drug arachnidine from different types of cobwebs - an antipyretic agent, equal in its action to quinine. And African healers have been using spider web pellets to treat malaria for centuries.

According to some reports, the web, applied to wounds that do not heal for a long time, contributes to their healing. It has bactericidal properties. Of course, if the web itself is clean enough.

So, a spider is necessarily a web. In foreign literature, there is even an impressive term "web industry". After all, the belly of a good spider is a real web factory. In general, if you think about it, you come to an amazing, albeit very simple discovery: a spider, perhaps, is the only creature on earth other than humans that widely uses the "tool of labor" - the web! Everyone weaves his own web, everyone creates in his own taste and way, and therefore, perhaps, one can even say this: if labor with the use of labor tools created a person from a monkey, then the “labor” associated with the use of the web made individuality out of a spider.

You can learn a lot of interesting things about octopuses. There are cases when spiders lived superbly in friendship with a person, getting used to the owner. And they not only came out of hiding to the net at the sound of the master's voice, but also boldly left it to bask in the master's palm! This, however, does not surprise me in the least. Although I personally did not try to tame spiders, but after meeting them I am sure that this is quite achievable.

So far, the various abilities of spiders have been little studied, such as, for example, a premonition of a change in the weather. Weather affects all life on Earth, but in addition to the senses, spiders, unlike other animals, have a great research mechanism: the web. The thinnest network, sensitive not only to sound vibrations, but also to humidity and, in general, to the chemical composition of the air. It is also known that octopuses often go online at the sounds of a musical instrument, such as a violin. True, the musical tastes of arachnids have so far been little studied.

And now let's move on to one of the most interesting aspects of spider life - love.