Cultural depictions of spiders of weaving. Eventually, she began to consider herself to be a greater weaver than the goddess Athena herself, and challenged the goddess to a weaving contest to prove her superior skill. Athena wove the scene of her victory over Poseidon that had earned her the patronage of Athens, while Arachne wove a tapestry featuring many episodes of infidelity among the Gods of Olympus, which angered Athena. The goddess conceded that Arachne's weaving was flawless, but she was infuriated by the mortal's pride. In a final moment of anger, Athena destroyed Arachne's tapestry and loom with her shuttle and cursed Arachne
The Mark of Athena titled "The Serpent's Shadow", Riordan read part of the first chapter of "The Mark of Athena". The cover and full first chapter were also released on Disney's "The Heroes of Olympus" website. On September 27, 2012, Riordan confirmed that there would be a first US printing of 3.5 million copies. "The Mark of Athena" was released on October 2, 2012. Since then, it has been translated into many languages and released as a hardcover, e-book, audiobook and paperback. It is available in hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook formats. During its first week, "The Mark of Athena" sold about 237,000 copies.