Do you remember Tantalus? He was punished to stand for all eternity in a pool of water, under a branch of low hanging fruit. Whenever he bent down to scoop water, the pool receded; whenever he reached up for a fruit, the branch would bend away from his reach. An eternity of longing, always unsated, forever tantalized; this is the price of insulting the Gods.

You would think that any of his children would have been wary of upsetting the Olympians; however, not everyone pays attention in class, which is probably the best way explain the behavior of Tantalus’ daughter, Niobe.

Keep this in mind: if you want to see the wretched fate of Tantalus, you have to make a one way journey to Tartarus, the Greek Underworld. If you want to visit Niobe, on the other hand, all you need is a plane ticket (unless you live near the Aegean Sea, and can catch a ride by boat).

You need to travel to Manisa Province, Turkey. Mt. Sipylus (modern Mount Spil) to be precise.

If you don’t believe me, here’s a contemporary picture of her:

And should you visit her, you might see her weep.

How long has she been crying? She appears in Homer’s Iliad, so she has definitely been heartbroken for a while. Let’s look at accounts of her stoney tears before exploring the actions that preceded them.

*

And now somewhere among the rocks, in the lonely mountains, in Sipylos, where they say is the resting place of the goddesses who are Nymphai, and dance beside the waters of Akheloios, there, stone still, she [Niobe] broods on the sorrows that the gods gave her.”

Homer, Iliad 24. 602 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.)

As for Niobe, she left Thebes and went to her father Tantalos at Sipylos, where, after a prayer to Zeus, her form was turned to stone, from which tears flow by night and by day.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 46 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.)

Sipylos the Mountain, where the Gods made Niobe a stony rock, where from tears ever stream: high up, the rugged crag bows as one weeping, weeping, waterfalls cry from far-echoing Hermos, wailing moan of sympathy : the sky-encountering crests of Sipylos, where alway floats a mist hated of shepherds, echo back the cry. Weird marvel seems that Rock of Niobe to men that pass with feet fear-goaded: there they see the likeness of a woman bowed, in depths of anguish sobbing, and her tears drop, as she mourns grief-stricken, endlessly. Yea, thou wouldst say that verily so it was, viewing it from afar; but when hard by thou standest, all the illusion vanishes; and lo, a steep-browed rock, a fragment rent from Sipylus–yet Niobe is there, dreeing her weird, the debt of wrath divine, a broken heart in guise of shattered stone.

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 1. 390 ff ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.)

“[Nemesis, the goddess of retribution addresses Artemis :] ‘If some prolific wife provokes your mother Leto, let her weep for her children, another Niobe of stone. Why should not I make another stone on Sipylos? . . . Niobe paid for it by passing into a changeling form, that daughter of Tantalos whose children were her sorrow, and she still weeps with stony eyes.

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 48. 395 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.)

Let’s look at that last sentence, uttered by Nemesis, Goddess of Divine Retribution:

“Niobe paid for it by passing into a changeling form, that daughter of Tantalos whose children were her sorrow, and she still weeps with stony eyes.”

So what did her kids do to cause so much sorrow?

*

Well, her children’s sin appears to have been being born…to Niobe.

Filial pride is understandable; but boasting that you’re better than a Goddess because you have more children is probably not so wise, especially when the Goddess in question had to fight tooth and nail to protect her progeny.

The Goddess in question: Leto (Latona), with her two children, Apollo and Artemis (Diana).

For an actual source, I’m going to use Pseudo-Hyginus, the 2nd Century C.E. mythographer, from his Fabulae:

Amphion took in marriage Niobe . . . by whom he had seven sons and as many daughters. These children Niobe placed above those of Latona [Leto], and spoke rather contemptuously against Apollo and Diana [Artemis] because Diana was girt in man’s attire, and Apollo wore long hair and a woman’s gown. She said, too, that she surpassed Latona in number of children. Because of this Apollo slew her sons with arrows as they were hunting in the woods on Mount Sipylus, and Diana shot and killed the daughters in the palace, all except Chloris.

Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 9 (trans. Grant)

This version is shorter and sweeter than those of Ovid and Homer, but it does leave out a few details, while adding some of its own. First, in most of the other versions, Niobe’s insults are directed at Leto specifically; there are no mentions of Artemis’ manlier countenance, or Apollos’ feminine attire. Here’s Ovid’s take on Niobe’s attitude towards Leto:

[Niobe to the worshipers of Leto, who are preparing for the Gods’ arrival] Add my seven sons and seven daughters and soon my sons’ wives and my son-in-laws. Now ask yourselves the reason for my pride, and dare prefer me to that Titanis [she-Titan], whom Coeus sired, whoever he may be, Latona whom the great globe once refused the smallest spot to give her children birth. Not earth, nor sky, nor water would accept your goddess, outcast from the world, until Delos took pity on her wanderings . . . She bore two children; so her womb was worth a seventh part of mine [i.e. Niobe had fourteen children]. O happy me! (Who would deny it?) And happy I’ll remain (Who could doubt that?) . . . My blessings banish fear. Suppose some part of this my clan of children could be lost, and I bereft, I’ll never be reduced to two, Latona’s litter – near enough childless! Away with you! Enough of this! Remove those laurels from your hair!’

Ovid, Metamorphoses 6. 146 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.)

Other variations occur from writer to writer: in some versions, Niobe’s husband (Amphion, a son of Zeus) is slain trying to protect his offspring, while in others, he takes his own life. In some retellings, one daughter, Chloris, is spared. As an aside, it was told that Chloris was pale green; the same root as found in the words Chlorine and Chlorophyll.

But all in all, we get the same overall story: Niobe brags about her abundance in terms of children, and pays for her insolence by having them all (expect perhaps Chloris) slaughtered. In grief, she returns home, and there, is transformed to stone, though she still cries to this day…

*

The take-away? I’m not going to leave this one with a simple answer, but rather some more open ended questions:

Who does Niobe cry for? Her children? Her fate? Her husband?

All of the above? Or even for her own father Tantalus – probably not, given her own
problems.

No matter how you cut it, being turned to stone to weep for eternity does seem a rather exaggerated punishment for what can be summed up as petty bragging.

What can I say? That’s how the Gods roll (c.f. Arachne).

I think I’ll end with this, once again from Quintus Smyrnaeus:

“yet Niobe is there, dreeing [enduring] her weird, the debt of wrath divine, a broken heart in guise of shattered stone”