Folklore’s Scariest Creatures: Arachne

Athena and Arachne. By Antonio Tempesta – Gravures d’après les Métamorphoses d’Ovide, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10337655

About 5% of the global population is afraid of spiders. In many European languages, the word for ‘spider’ comes from the Greek root arachne. In Greek mythology, Athena transformed Arachne into a spider following her victory in a spinning contest.