Niobe's Children
conceptThe fourteen children of Niobe, killed by Apollo and Artemis after their mother boasted of being superior to Leto, the divine twins' mother.
The Myth
Niobe, queen of Thebes and daughter of Tantalus, had fourteen children — seven sons and seven daughters — and boasted that she was more blessed than Leto, who had borne only two. Leto's children were Apollo and Artemis, and they took lethal offence. Apollo, god of archery, hunted down the seven sons — some on the hunting field, some at exercise, some at play. Artemis then killed the seven daughters, piercing them with arrows as they mourned their brothers. Niobe, watching her children die one by one, was petrified by grief — literally turned to stone. The rock, still weeping with springs of water, was identified with a formation on Mount Sipylus in Lydia. Amphion, Niobe's husband, either killed himself in grief or was slain by Apollo for attacking the god's temple. The myth was paradigmatic for Greek audiences: no mortal should compare themselves to the divine. Niobe's fate was invoked whenever hubris demanded illustration.
Children
Fourteen children (all killed)
Symbols
Fun Fact
The chemical element niobium (Nb, atomic number 41) was named after Niobe because niobium always occurs alongside tantalum — named after her father Tantalus — in mineral deposits. Father and daughter, linked by myth, are linked by chemistry. The weeping rock on Mount Sipylus in modern Turkey still exists and still appears to "weep" due to mineral-rich springs — a geological formation that has been making people think of a grieving mother for at least 2,700 years.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Amphion and Zethus
heroAmphion and Zethus were twin sons of Zeus and Antiope who built the walls of Thebes — Zethus...
Apollo
godGod of light, music, poetry, and prophecy. Apollo embodied the Greek ideal of youthful masculine...
Apollo (Far-Striker)
godThe radiant god of light, prophecy, music, healing, and plague — the most complex deity in the...
Apollo (Light)
godApollo was the most complex Olympian — god of light, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, plague, and...
Apollo Loxias
godAn epithet of Apollo meaning "the Oblique One," referring to the deliberately ambiguous nature of...
Artemis
godTwin sister of Apollo and goddess of the hunt. Artemis roamed the wild forests with her band of...
Artemis (Wild Goddess)
godThe virgin huntress who roamed the wild places with her nymphs, punishing those who trespassed on...
Artemis Brauronia
godAn epithet of Artemis worshipped at Brauron in Attica, where young girls performed bear dances as a...
Leto
titanA gentle Titaness and mother of the twin Olympians Apollo and Artemis, persecuted by Hera across...
Mount Olympus (Sacred)
placeThe highest mountain in Greece and mythological home of the twelve Olympian gods, whose...
Mount Parnassus
placeMount Parnassus was the mountain above Delphi sacred to Apollo and the Muses — the symbolic home of...
Niobe
heroA queen who boasted that her fourteen children made her superior to the goddess Leto, who had only...