medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Equating spiders with toxicity is not the same as assuming that they are lethal. Probably all spiders are toxic to some degree, but the degree of toxicity involved in a given spider bite is usually rather small. There are, however, a few highly toxic spiders in Europe: that they are usually not encountered by humans may account for the lack of concern on this score by most Europeans but it does not render bites administered by these species any less painful and worrisome to those humans who do experience them.
Probably the best known poisonous spider in southern Europe is the malmignatte (Fr.; in Italian, malmignatta), Latrodectus tredecimguttatus. A close relative of the American spider called Black Widow, it also bears that name in Spain (Viuda Negra). Its bites can cause partial paralysis and in exceptional cases perhaps death. The ancient Greek writer Aelian describes in his _Historia animalium_ an arachnid called the "grape spider" that is sometimes thought to be this species and whose bite he calls instantly lethal. That's certainly an exaggeration (assuming that Aelian's spider in question is not wholly fictitious). But such exaggerations have the beneficial effect of securing avoidance on the part of humans who otherwise would experience painful bites. I would look for the origins of such folklore in precisely this sort of cautionary formulation.
Another poisonous spider of Europe is the Mediterranean recluse (Loxosceles rufescens), a close relative of the Brown recluse and now found in the U.S. as well. See http://www.uark.edu/depts/entomolo/museum/browrec.html
Best,
John Dillon
On Fri, 14 Mar 2003 09:21:17 +0000
Rob Howe <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
>I can't contribute myself to this fascinating discussion but it has prompted
>a question in my head that someone may be able to answer:
>
>I notice that the medieval spider trope used in the examples given to the
>list so far equates spiders with toxicity. Now, I know _some_ spiders are
>venemous (although are there any of these lethal spiders in Europe at
>all???), but it is not an overiding concern of most Europeans nowadays to
>worry about dying from spider bites.
>
>Where did this rather paranoid equation between spiders and
>lethality/death/toxicity come from?
>
>Thanks if anyone knows the history to this folklore.
>
>Rob Howe.
>
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