Arachne
It has also been suggested that Jeremias Gotthelf's nineteenth century novella, "The Black Spider", was heavily influenced by the Arachne story from Ovid's "Metamorphoses". In the novella, a woman is turned into a venomous spider having reneged on a deal with the devil.
Cultural depictions of spiders
Another Japanese mythological spider figure is the "Jorōgumo" ("prostitute spider") which is portrayed as being able to transform into a seductive woman. In some instances, the "Jorōgumo" attempts to seduce and perhaps marry passing samurai. In other instances she is venerated as a goddess dwelling in the Jōren Falls who saves people from drowning. Her name also refers to a golden orb-spider species "Nephila clavata" ("Jorō-gumo", or Jorō spider).