In
both the myths about Arachne and Tereus and Philomena, we see humans dismissing
the gods and pretty much acting as they see fit, not paying attention to
warnings they receive (like the screech owl living above Tereus’ house) or even
taunting them a little, in the case of Arachne telling Athena to come and
challenge her herself. Arachne had a lot of faith in her talent, and didn’t
like the idea that people had of her being taught by Athena; she wanted to be
known for her own worth, especially since she was just a peasant. “You could
see she was taught by Pallas. Yet she denied it, and took offense at the idea
of having such a teacher”. She was punished by Athena, turned into a spider, all
because she wanted to take all the credit for her own skill and not honor
Athena at all. She kind of did want she wanted—weaving and not acknowledging
the apparent true master of it—without any regard to how any of the gods
(especially Athena) would feel about it. In all these myths, the gods have the
last say and get to do what they think is right, no matter what.
With
Tereus, he took that to the extreme. He didn’t care what anyone else thought,
he only thought about what he wanted, and what he wanted was Philomena, and
that was that: “…he burnt with his own vice and his nation’s”. This puts the
blame not only on Tereus but on his whole country as well, saying that this
lust he has is a characteristic of all the men from Thrace. Either way, that
puts the blame squarely on humans, with no regard for how they should actually
be acting and respecting the gods (not to mention other people). Tereus was so
sure in his convictions and that was all that mattered and his way was the way
things were going to be. Both he and Arachne were more focused on their own
talents and desires than how that could affect other things…like a wife or a
god.
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