Ovid's version of Niobe's myth

Some people are critical of mythology and myth studies of the sort that I pursue because they equate mythology with ideology. Mythology, in this instance, is the favored narrative of the powerful, the dogma of the dominant paradigm. Marxists, for example, often fall into this camp, as do some critics of Christianity and organized religion more generally. It’s not hard to see why, given the common confusion about metaphors and metaphorical truth. If one reads a myth literally and assumes that there is only one accurate version, one correct interpretation, and one appropriate use for the story, then you do end up with a fixed meaning in service to some power structure. This has happened and is still happening. A lot. I get it. I am interested in myths as metaphorical narratives about the unknown because, paradoxically (?), myth as metaphor appears to be a solution to the myth as literal, dogma problem, and our literal dogmas are (literally) killing us.

(If the relationship between myth and dogma and dominant paradigms interests you, also check out my paper "Moral of the Story." ) (right sidebar).

We need to claim our myths, but our institutions (read: holders of power) are not going to facilitate this grand awakening and expansion of consciousness. We are, by understanding that we make myths and think metaphorically, and by looking for our myths, waking up to our assumptions.This includes considering the sources of our information, even the ancient or well established, and being alert to moral judgments. The myth of Niobe is one illustration.

The Greek myth of Niobe is a simple albeit puzzling story that is repeated by various Greek chroniclers: Apollodorus, Pausanias, Herodotus, Homer, and Hesiod. They don’t all provide the exact same details. The names of the children and their number, for example, varies from source to source. Apollodorus said there were fourteen kids. Homer, who included his version of the story in the Iliad, refers to twelve children, six boys and six girls. Hesiod reported twenty, ten of each sex, and Herodotus counted only four. The identity of the survivors is also unclear. Apollodorus refers to the surviving son as Amphion, Pausanias mentions Amyclas who, quick to pray to Leto for forgiveness and mercy, was spared. Apollodorus names the eldest daughter, Chloris, who also made successful, last minute prayers to Leto, as a survivor. Pausanias says that the surviving daughter's given name was Meliboia, but she was later known as Chloris because she stayed pale with fear and grief over the murder of her siblings. In Homer’s version of the myth, there are no survivors.

Why the inconsistencies? They’re probably the result of the oral story moving to different regions at different times, but it’s reasonable to say, don’t you think, that the exact number of Niobe’s children doesn’t matter all that much?

Something more significant accurs when Ovid rewrites Niobe’s story for his collection of tales, The Metamorphoses (Roman, 8 CE). Ovid's version of the story is the longest and most colorful, and the one that is most often told. In the Sixth Book, Ovid tells the tale of a foolishly proud Niobe, who recklessly invites the destruction of her family and even persists in taunting the goddess after her sons are massacred. In the ancient Greek versions, identifying the good guys and the bad guys is tough, but Ovid squarely places Niobe in the tradition of inflated, arrogant mortals who are brought low by the gods.

The earlier Greek sources provide no details regarding how and when Niobe issued her fateful challenge. The queen's words could have been a casual slip, a private comment made to her husband or even herself. Ovid however, describes Niobe’s appearance at Laton’s (Leto’s) annual festival, and the manner in which she disrupts the proceedings with claims that she, with her many children, is more worthy of veneration. Niobe gets on Leto’s home turf so to speak, and outlines her own noble parentage, her physical beauty and grace, and the riches of the kingdom under the command of her husband, concluding her list of goddess-like qualifications with mention of her seven sons and seven daughters, and the many children that they, in their turn, will produce…

This is arrogant if not downright stupid, but Ovid’s Niobe then goes one step further and challenges the goddess. She believes so firmly that her abundant children are her creation, her accomplishment, her deserved reward, that she dares Latona (Leto) to try to reduce her position be taking them all. “I could lode a couple of them," she says, "and still have plenty." Niobe’s disrespect shocks and frightens her community. The gentle goddess Leto cannot tolerate this affront or allow Niobe’s challenge to go unanswered. She calls on Apollo and Artemis and they are quick to jump to her defense. Ovid says that Apollo doesn’t even wait to hear all of the details of the story, “long complaint is nothing but delay”(6. 273) and he vividly describes the bloody hunt on Mount Citharion and the death of each son; the chase, the cries they utter, and where Apollo’s arrows struck.

When word of the massacre reaches Niobe, she is full of indignation as well as grief, and defiantly calls out to Leto again; “As wretched as my case doth seeme, yet have I left me mo Than thou for all thy happiness canst of thine owne account. Even after all these corses yet I still doe thee surmount” (6. 358-360). In other words, I still have six daughters and you’re still the mother of only two.Then Artemis strikes, shooting dead six of the daughters, who had come with Niobe to view their dead brothers. Now Niobe, stunned and frightened, prays for the life of the last, her youngest, but to no avail. All of her children are killed. Her husband Amphion commits suicide. Overcome by grief, Niobe sits by the dead bodies to weep and slowly turns to stone. A tremendous wind carries the rocky Niobe away to her native land of Phyrgia, were she remains to this day. Ovid does not mention Zeus in connection with Niobe’s transformation.

Is this the same story? Which version do you prefer...?