ATHENA 165
Athena. Detail from an Attic red-figure amphora by the Andocides Painter, ca. 520 B.c.;
height of vase 22V2 in. Athena is armed with helmet, spear, and shield, and her aegis is
tasseled with snakes, with a Gorgon's head at the center. On the vase she stands at the
left watching Heracles and Apollo struggling for the Pythian tripod (see 534-535 and il-
lustration on p. 535). (Staatliches Museum, Berlin, Photograph courtesy of Hirmer Verlag,
Miinchen.)
Lydia worshiped her divine presence; Arachne alone felt no awe. Yet she
blushed; a sudden flush stole over her face in spite of herself and as suddenly
faded, like the red glow of the sky when Dawn first glows just before the heav-
ens begin to whiten with the sun's rising. Obstinately she held to her course and
rushed to destruction in her foolish desire for the prize. Jupiter's daughter re-
sisted no more; she offered her no more advice; no more did she put off the
competition.