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Encyclopedia > Niobe
Apollo and Artemis slaying the children of Niobe by Niobid Painter (c. 455-450 BC)
Apollo and Artemis slaying the children of Niobe by Niobid Painter (c. 455-450 BC)

A mortal woman in Greek mythology, Niobe (Νιόβη), daughter of Tantalus and either Euryanassa, Eurythemista, Clytia, Dione, or Laodice, and the wife of Amphion, boasted of her superiority to Leto because she had fourteen children (the Niobids), seven male and seven female,[1] while Leto had only two (Apollo and Artemis). Apollo killed her sons as they practiced athletics, with the last begging for his life (Apollo would have spared his life, but had already released the arrow), and Artemis killed her daughters. Apollo and Artemis used poisoned arrows to kill them, though according to some versions a number of the Niobids were spared (Chloris, usually). Amphion, at the sight of his dead sons, either killed himself or was killed by Apollo after swearing revenge. A devastated Niobe fled to Mount Sipylus of Lydia in Asia Minor and turned into stone as she wept, or committed suicide. Mount Sipylus has a rock carving of a female face on it that the locals claimed was Niobe, though it was probably originally intended to be Cybele. The stone is said to have wept tears during the summer. The rock appears to weep because it is porous limestone and rainwater seeps through the pores. Image File history File links Niobid_krater. ... Image File history File links Niobid_krater. ... The Niobid Painter was named after a krater which on one side shows the god Apollo and his sister Artemis killing the children of Niobe who were collectively called the Niobids. ... The Oricoli bust of Zeus, King of the Gods, in the collection of the Vatican Museum. ... In Greek mythology Tantalus (Greek Τάνταλος) was a son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto (riches), not to be confused with the god of the underworld. ... Euryanassa: was the daughter of the River-god Pactolus. ... Eurythemista: daughter of the River-god Xanthus. ... Clytia or Clytie was a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys in Greek mythology. ... Dione in Greek mythology is a vague goddess presence who has her most concrete form in Book V of Homers Iliad as the mother of Aphrodite: Aphrodite journeys to Diones side after she has been wounded in battle while protecting her favorite son Aeneas. ... In Greek mythology, the name Laodice referred to different people. ... There are several characters named Amphion in Greek mythology: Amphion, son of Zeus and Antiope, and twin brother of Zethus (see Amphion and Zethus). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Lycian Apollo, early Imperial Roman copy of a fourth century Greek original (Louvre Museum) In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo (Ancient Greek , Apóllōn; or , Apellōn), the ideal of the kouros, was the archer-god of medicine and healing, light, truth, archery and also a bringer of death... The Diana of Versailles, a Roman copy of a sculpture by Leochares (Louvre Museum) Artemis (Greek: nominative , genitive ), in Olympian Greek mythology the daughter of Zeus and of Leto and the twin sister of Apollo, was one of the most widely venerated of the gods and manifestly one of the... As she talks, her lips breathe spring roses: I was Chloris, who am now called Flora. ... In Greek mythology, Mount Sipylus northeast of Smyrna in Lydia (southwestern Anatolia, now Turkey) was the region ruled by Tantalus. ... Lydia (Greek ) is a historic region of western Anatolia, congruent with Turkeys modern provinces of İzmir and Manisa. ... Anatolia (Greek: ανατολη anatole, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to... Cybele with her attributes. ... Limey shale overlaid by limestone. ... A pore, in general, is some form of opening, usually very small. ...

Apollo and Diana Attacking Niobe and her Children by Anicet-Charles-Gabriel Lemonnier
Apollo and Diana Attacking Niobe and her Children by Anicet-Charles-Gabriel Lemonnier

There are various accounts about how and where Niobe perished; the story that returns Niobe from Thebes to her Lydian homeland is but one. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (750x886, 93 KB) Summary Anicet-Charles-Gabriel Lemonnier Apollo and Diana Attacking Niobe and her Children 1772 Oil on canvas, 141 x 112 cm Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen Licensing The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (750x886, 93 KB) Summary Anicet-Charles-Gabriel Lemonnier Apollo and Diana Attacking Niobe and her Children 1772 Oil on canvas, 141 x 112 cm Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen Licensing The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image... Lydia (Greek ) is a historic region of western Anatolia, congruent with Turkeys modern provinces of İzmir and Manisa. ...


The story of Niobe is mentioned by Achilles to Priam near the end of Homer's Iliad, as a stock type for mourning. Priam is like Niobe in that he is grieving for his son Hector, who was killed and not buried for several days. Niobe is also mentioned in Sophocles's Antigone: as she is marched toward her death, Antigone compares her own loneliness to that of Niobe.The subject of Niobe and the destruction of the Niobids was part of the repertory of Attic vase-painters and inspired sculpture groups and wall frescoes as well as relief carvings on Roman sarcophagi. The Wrath of Achilles, by François-Léon Benouville (1821–1859) (Musée Fabre) In Greek mythology, Achilles, also Akhilleus or Achilleus (Ancient Greek ) was a hero of the Trojan War, the central character and greatest warrior of Homers Iliad, which takes for its theme, not the War... In Greek mythology, Priam (Greek Πρίαμος) was the king of Troy during the Trojan War, and son of Laomedon. ... Homer (Greek: , HómÄ“ros) was a legendary early Greek poet and aoidos (singer) traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey. ... This is about the eBook reader. ... Hector brought back to Troy. ... Sophocles, as depicted in the Nordisk familjebok. ... Antigone by Frederic Leighton Antigone (Eng. ... A mortal woman in Greek mythology, Niobe, daughter of Tantalus and either Euryanassa, Eurythemista, Clytia, Dione, or Laodice, and the wife of Amphion, boasted of her superiority to Leto because she had fourteen children (Niobids), seven male and seven female, while Leto had only two. ... Stone sarcophagus of Pharaoh Merenptah Detail of a stone sarcophagus in the Istanbul Archeological Museum showing a hunting scene Anthropoid sarcophagus discovered at Cádiz A sarcophagus is a stone container for a coffin or body. ...


The story was also mentioned in a soliloquy by Hamlet in Act 1, Scene 2 of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. Hamlet compares his mother's grief over the dead King Hamlet to Niobe's sadness, in contrast to her hasty marriage to Claudius. Soliloquy is an audible oratory or conversation with oneself. ... The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke, more commonly known as Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and is one of his best-known and most-quoted plays. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...


Aedon was the queen of Thebes who attempted to kill the son of her rival, Niobe, also her sister-in-law (Aedon was married to Zethus), and accidentally killed her own daughter, Itylus instead and thus, the gods again changed her into a nightingale. In Greek mythology, Aëdon, daughter of Pandareus, was the wife of Zethus. ... For the ancient capital of Upper Egypt, see Thebes, Egypt. ... Amphion (native of two lands) and Zethus, in ancient Greek mythology, were the twin sons of Zeus by Antiope. ... In Greek mythology, Itylus, or Itylos, was the son/daughter of Aedon and King Zethus of Thebes. ...

Wounded Niobid discovered on the site of the Gardens of Sallust, Rome
Wounded Niobid discovered on the site of the Gardens of Sallust, Rome

Another Niobe, also from Greek mythology, was a daughter of Phoroneus, and the first mortal woman to attract the love of the god Zeus. By Zeus, this Niobe was the mother of Argus, legendary founder of the Greek city of Argos. Another child named Pelasgus is sometimes mentioned as the twin of Argus. This Niobe lived many generations before Niobe, daughter of Tantalus. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2000x3008, 3389 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Niobe Gardens of Sallust Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2000x3008, 3389 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Niobe Gardens of Sallust Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner... The Gardens of Sallust (Latin: Horti Sallustiani) were Roman gardens developed by the Roman historian Sallust in the 1st century BC using his wealth extorted as governor of the province of Africa Nova (newly conquered Numidia). ... In Greek mythology, Phoroneus was a culture-hero, son of Inachus and Melia. ... The Statue of Zeus at Olympia Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BC. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in Ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th century engraving Zeus (in Greek: nominative: Zeús, genitive: Díos), is... There are five figures in Greek mythology named Argus or Argos (Άργος). Argus Panoptes (Argus all eyes) is a giant with a hundred eyes. ... Argos (Greek: Άργος, Árgos, IPA argos) is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor, named for Nauplius. ... In Greek mythology, Pelasgus referred to several different people. ...


Notes

  1. ^ The number varies. Aelian (Varia Historia xii. 36): "But Hesiod says they were nine boys and ten girls— unless after all the verses are not Hesiod but are falsely ascribed to him as are many others." Nine would make a triple triplet, triplicity being character of numerous sisterhoods (J.E. Harrison, A Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (1903), "The Maiden-Trinities" pp 286ff. Ten would equate to a full two hands of male dactyls.

Claudius Aelianus (c. ... A triplet is a set of three items, and includes in particular: one of three babies in a multiple birth in lapidary, a preparation of opal as a gemstone, with a thin layer of opal backed with a dark material and covered with cap of clear quartz in optics a... Jane Ellen Harrison (September 9, 1850–April 5, 1928) was a ground-breaking English classical scholar and feminist. ... In Greek mythology, the Dactyls were the archaic race of small phallic male beings associated with the Great Mother, whether as Cybele or Rhea, spirit-men like the Curetes, Cabiri and Korybantes. ...

References

  • Cook, Robert Manuel, 1964. Niobe and Her children (Cambridge University Press). Summary of the most recent research on ancient Niobid representations, pp6-30.
  • Ovid, Metamorphoses VI.145-310.
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Category:Niobids

  Results from FactBites:
 
Niobe (474 words)
Niobe was the queen of Thebes (the principle city in Boetia), married to Amphion, King of Thebes.
Niobe and Amphion had fourteen children (the Niobids), and in a moment of arrogance, Niobe bragged about her seven sons and seven daughters at a ceremony in honor of Leto, the daughter of the titans Coeus and Phoebe.
Niobe's children were left unburied for nine days because Zeus had turned all of the people of Thebes into stone.
Niobe - definition of Niobe in Encyclopedia (293 words)
A mortal woman in Greek mythology, Niobe, daughter of Tantalus and either Euryanassa, Eurythemista, Clytia, Dione, or Laodice, and the wife of Amphion, boasted of her superiority to Leto because she had fourteen children (Niobids), seven male and seven female, while Leto had only two.
A devastated Niobe fled to Mount Sipylus in Asia Minor and turned into stone as she wept, or committed suicide.
Aedon was the queen of Thebes who attempted to kill the son of her rival, Niobe, also her sister-in-law (Aedon was married to Zethus), and accidentally killed her own daughter, Itylus instead and thus, the gods again changed her into a nightingale.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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