Yes, there are only a few traces of the belief left. Modern people cannot
appreciate the wonder of these creatures, and the truths they teach about
life.
I am betting you have Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, in your library.
Look under Arachne. Cecrops might be derived or related to Greek kirkos,
'ring'. Ring-eyes is a fairly good description for an eight-eyed arachnid.
His connections to Athene, probably a sun-goddess, at least in origin. His
daughters have names that relate to morning dew. His daughter Herse has a
son Cephalus, who is beloved of Eos. Arachne is in competition with Athene,
which is the way out-of-favor divinities are often portrayed. Numerous seals
with a spider motif have been found at Miletus.
Patrick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Wordingham" <richard@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2008 11:01 AM
Subject: Re:Re: [tied] Re: PS Emphatics
--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick Ryan" <proto-language@...>
wrote:
>
> I posted one link.
>
> But I would have thought a GOOGLE on "sun +spider" might have
occurred to
> you.
Actually, unquoted "soleil arraignée" seems more profitable, but
neither quickly finds convincing sites on the sun as a spider.
Richard.