Unlucky Odysseus and his crew slowed their oars

As they approached a demon Circe had not warned them of.

The deceitful goddess, Arachnea, and her ever-ensnaring web stood before them.

Of all of the immortal gods and goddesses, Arachnea was the craftiest.

Her web was so fine, and so brilliantly woven, that anyone who dared to look at it

Could not take their eyes away, and felt urged to become part of it.

The attraction of the web on the sea-men was like

The attraction of a fish to the bait of a fisherman;

Trying to avoid the same fate they so wished to succumb to,

And failing, miserably, in the attempt.

Upon reaching wily Arachnea, Odysseus ordered his crew to turn their heads

For he had heard of the fatal attraction of the web.

As for Odysseus himself, he swam to Arachnea, and addressed her confidently.

"Break your web in two and allow myself and my men to pass," Odysseus ordered

Of the conniving goddess;

Arachnea soared down from her web on a thin silvery strand of cloth to him.

"You will never make me give up my web," furtive Arachnea asserted

And attatched more silvery strands of cloth to his hips and shoulders.

She swept the unlucky man into her devastating web and surrounded him

With additional scraps of silver cloth.

Odysseus did not allow the beautiful web to appeal to him,

And only thought of how much he wanted to get to his home in Ithaca.

"Arachnea!" Odysseus commanded, "Let me free and no harm will come to you!"

"Harm?" Arachnea said, scorningly, "What harm could possibly come to me?

I am one of the immortal gods and goddesses. You are a mere mortal.

You pose no threat to me."

Odysseus remembered at that moment a secret gift which he had been given in his

Early days living in Ithaca.

The gift was a long bladed knife that could cut through any material,

No matter how strong or how magically protected.

Odysseus took the blade in both of his hands, and brought it cleanly through the webs

Surrounding him.

Sneaky Arachnea cursed him loudly and forcefully, and proceeded to ensnare him even

More tightly, and with more cloth.

This was pointless, as Odysseus only cut through the webs again.

Arachnea grew frustrated and, disgusted, hurled Odysseus out of her web and back

Into the waters.

Unlucky Odysseus was not unlucky in this instance, as he had escaped from the most

Clever goddess of all of the immortal gods and goddesses, the one from whom no one

Had ever escaped; in this way, he was lucky.

Odysseus swam back to his crew and sailed on.