Spider told by the Roman poet Ovid in his "Metamorphoses", Arachne was a Lydian girl who challenged the goddess Athena to a weaving contest. Arachne won, but Athena destroyed her tapestry out of jealousy, causing Arachne to hang herself. In an act of mercy, Athena brought Arachne back to life as the first spider. Stories about the trickster-spider Anansi are prominent in the folk traditions of the Asante people of Ghana. In some cultures, spiders have symbolized patience due to their hunting technique of setting webs and waiting for prey, as well as mischief and malice due to their venomous bites.
Athena, Oregon Athena, Oregon Athena is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,126 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Pendleton–Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area. Athena, about halfway between Pendleton, Oregon, and Walla Walla, Washington, was originally called Centerville. However, confusion about the name sometimes arose because Oregon had another Centerville, in Washington County, and the state of Washington had a Centerville, in Klickitat County. In 1889, local government officials asked the Centerville school principal, D. W. Jarvis, to recommend a different name. He chose "Athena" after the Greek goddess, and they agreed. Centerville got its