Textiles in mythology and folklore the labyrinth and safely out again. Among the Olympians, the weaver goddess is Athena, who, despite her role, was bested by her acolyte Arachne, who was turned later into a weaving spider. The daughters of Minyas, Alcithoe, Leuconoe and their sister, defied Dionysus and honored Athena in their weaving instead of joining his festival. A woven peplum, laid upon the knees of the goddess's iconic image, was central to festivals honoring both Athena at Athens, and Hera. In Homer's legend of the Odyssey, Penelope the faithful wife of Odysseus was a weaver, weaving her design for a shroud by day,
Athena Areia Athena Areia Areia () was a cultic epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, under which she was worshipped at Athens. Athena's statue, together with those of Ares, Aphrodite Areia, and Enyo, stood in the temple of Ares at Athens. There was also a colossal acrolithic statue of her, at a temple at Plataea, built with the spoils given to that city by the Athenians after the Battle of Marathon. This was supposedly created by the artist Pheidias, though there is some disagreement among modern scholars whether this was indeed created by that artist. Plutarch mentions a gilded statue in this