The Greek Gods ES

I love how we get two completely different sides to Athena in The Odyssey and The Contest of Arachne and Minerva. In the contest with Arachne, Athena is extremely jealous of Arachne's weaving abilities and is very angered upon discovering that Arachne really is better than her, resulting in her turning Arachne into a spider. However in The Odyssey, Athena is protecting Odysseus during his travels, wanting him to return home safely, even creating a plan to defeat his wife's suitors. Athena is even proud of Odysseus's quick wit and clever ways of lying and creating stories, something she is good at doing. I think it's interesting how both Arachne and Odysseus have a quality/gift that Athena has as well (weaving and lying), but the two had very different experiences with the goddess. 

Also, I wonder if Athena really would have pardoned Arachne for saying she was the best at weaving if she begged her pardon like Athena said she would when she was disguised. Even if Arachne apologized and Athena ended up seeing her work anyway, would she still have been furious once she realized Arachne's work was better? Was Athena more so upset because Arachne made a mockery of the gods?