Cultural depictions of spiders

From Greek mythology to African folklore, the spider has been used to represent a variety of things, and endures into the present day with characters such as Shelob from The Lord of the Rings and Spider-Man from the eponymous comic series.

[5][6] The spider, along with its web, is featured in mythological fables, cosmology, artistic spiritual depictions, and in oral traditions throughout the world since ancient times.

The spider was syncretically associated with the goddess Neith of Ancient Egypt in her aspect as spinner and weaver of destiny, this link continuing later through the Babylonian Ishtar and the Greek Arachne.

[9] An Islamic oral tradition holds that during the Hijra, the journey from Mecca to Medina, Muhammad and his companion Abu Bakr were being pursued by Quraysh soldiers, and they decided to take refuge in the Cave of Thawr.

[10] A notable ancient legend from the Western canon that explains the origin of the spider comes from the Greek story of the weaving competition between Athena the goddess, and Arachne, sometimes described as a princess.

This story may have originated in Lydian mythology;[a] but the myth, briefly mentioned by Virgil in 29 BC,[b] is known from the later Greek mythos after Ovid wrote the poem Metamorphoses between the years AD 2 and 8.

[19][20] The scholar Robert Graves proposed Ovid's tale may have its roots in the commercial rivalry between the Athenian citizenry of Greece and that of Miletus in Asia Minor, which flourished around 2000 BC.

[22] Stories of Ananse became such a prominent and familiar part of Ashanti oral culture that the word Anansesem—"spider tales"—came to embrace all kinds of fables.

This fed into the Anansi toree or "spider tales"; stories that were brought over from Africa and told to children of Maroon people and other Africans in the diaspora.

The South American Moche people of ancient Peru worshiped nature;[32] they placed emphasis on animals and often depicted spiders in their art.

Raiko and his companion Watanabe no Tsuna killed the Tsuchigumo at the end of the story, releasing spiders the size of children from its belly.

Her name also refers to a golden orb-spider species Trichonephila clavata (Jorō-gumo, which translates to "binding bride" or "whore spider").

One version tells that while taking refuge in a cave on Rathlin Island,[46] he witnesses a spider continuously failing to climb its silken thread to its web.

[49] In Polish folklore and literature, Pan Twardowski - a sorcerer who made a deal with the Devil[50] - is depicted as having escaped from the Devil who was taking him to Hell, and ending up living on the Moon, his only companion being a spider; from time to time Twardowski lets the spider descend to Earth on a thread and bring him news and gossip from the world below.

[61] In this allegorical tale that was adapted to various media, the spider symbolizes evil works and represents the moral consequences of making a pact with the devil.

In The Lord of the Rings, the creature's final surviving daughter Shelob is encountered as Frodo and Sam move through the mountain pass of Cirith Ungol.

[69] Although described as giant spiders, Tolkien gave them fictional attributes such as compound eyes, beaks and the spinning of black webs.

[73] This book was later followed by a motion picture of the same name, using the giant spider Aragog from the novel as a supporting character and friend of groundskeeper, Hagrid.

The poem "The Spider and the Fly" (1829) by Mary Howitt is a cautionary tale of seduction and betrayal which later inspired a 1949 film and a 1965 Rolling Stones song, each sharing the same title, as well as a 1923 cartoon by Aesop Fables Studio.

[76][77] In graphic novels, spiders are often adapted by superheroes or villains as their symbols or alter egos due to the arachnid's strengths and weaknesses.

Peter Parker was accidentally bitten by a radioactive spider and then, as Spider-Man, was able to scale tall buildings and shoot web fluid from a device attached to his wrist.

Radiation and spiders once again combine to wreak havoc in the 2002 film spoof Eight Legged Freaks, this time due to nuclear waste.

[101] In Ingmar Bergman's 1961 Swedish film adaptation Through a Glass Darkly, the psychotic Karin believes she has an encounter with God as a spider.

Surreal spider imagery[102] symbolism[103] and themes[104] are featured prominently in the 2013 psychological thriller Enemy; director Denis Villeneuve's film adaptation of the novel The Double by José Saramago.

[105] On television, the 1990 miniseries Stephen King's It is based on his novel It, where the now adult members of the Losers' club confront the giant spider form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

[106] The plot of the 2018 Doctor Who episode "Arachnids in the UK" revolves around an infestation of giant spiders that has occurred as the result of a scientific experiment.

[h] Alice Cooper's 2008 concept album, Along Came a Spider is about a fictitious serial killer known as 'Spider', who wraps his victims in silk and cuts off one of their legs in order to create his own eight-legged arachnoid.

[139] Huntsman spiders are large and swift, often eliciting arachnophobic reactions from susceptible people, and are the subject of many superstitions, exaggerations and myths.

[141] In a 2004 episode of Discovery Channel's MythBusters, it was shown that host Adam Savage baits and survives a bite from a daddy long legs.

After seeking medical attention for the resultant swelling, hundreds of tiny spiders are discovered emerging from her lanced wound, which causes the victim to go insane.