A few notes for Niobe

felicissima matrum

dicta foret Niobe, si non sibi visa fuisset.

Niobe would have been spoken of as the most fortunate of mothers,

if she had not seemed so to herself.

I know we're not quite "done" with Athena vs. Arachne - the startling conclusion of their certamen remains to be read. But looking ahead:

- William S. Anderson is quite helpful in drawing some of the parallels between Niobe and Pentheus (of book 3) - both are warned by prophets (Pentheus by Tiresias, Niobe by Manto), both confront citizens of their state who are worshipping a deity other than their leaders, i.e., Pentheus as King of Thebes and Niobe now as wife of the king of Thebes, and both cry out: "Quis furor?"

What madness, to prefer the gods you are told about to the ones you see? Why is Latona worshipped at the altars, while as yet my godhead is without its incense? Tantalus is my father, who is the only man to eat the food of the gods. My mother is one of the seven sisters, the Pleiades. Great Atlas, who carries the axis of the heavens on his shoulders, is one of my grandfathers. Jupiter is the other, and I glory in having him as my father-in-law as well. The peoples of Phrygia fear me. Cadmus’s royal house is under my rule: and the walls, built to my husband’s lyre, and Thebes’s people, will be ruled by his power and mine. (Kline)

“quis furor, auditos” inquit “praeponere visis

caelestes? aut cur colitur Latona per aras, numen adhuc sine ture meum est? mihi Tantalus auctor, cui licuit soli superorum tangere mensas, Pleiadum soror est genetrix mea, maximus Atlas 175est avus, aetherium qui fert cervicibus axem; Iuppiter alter avus socero quoque glorior illo. Me gentes metuunt Phrygiae, me regia Cadmi sub domina est, fidibusque mei commissa mariti moenia cum populis a meque viroque reguntur.

- Anderson is also helpful in noting the meaningful resonances of Niobe's family tree: daughter of Tantalos, sister of Pelops (whom Tantalos chopped up and served to the gods, only to be miraculously re-constituted, minus a shoulder) and Broteas (another strange fate), mother of 14 healthy children, wife of Amphion, daughter-in-law of Antiope. (Left: Jupiter and Antiope by Franz Anton Maulbertsch.)

- If you have a chance, have a look at where Niobe appears in Homer, Iliad 24 - the moment within the scene between Achilles and Priam - what role does the tale of Niobe (around line 602 ff.) and the description of her eating, play there? Achilles says to Priam:

"Thy son, old sire, is given back according to thy wish, and lieth upon a bier; and at break of day thou shalt thyself behold him, as thou bearest him hence; but for this present let us bethink us of supper. For even the fair-haired Niobe bethought her of meat, albeit twelve children perished in her halls, six daughters and six lusty sons. The sons Apollo slew with shafts from his silver bow, being wroth against Niobe, and the daughters the archer Artemis, for that Niobe had matched her with fair-cheeked Leto, saying that the goddess had borne but twain, while herself was mother to many; wherefore they, for all they were but twain, destroyed them all. For nine days' space they lay in their blood, nor was there any to bury them, for the son of Cronos turned the folk to stones; howbeit on the tenth day the gods of heaven buried them; and Niobe bethought her of meat, for she was wearied with the shedding of tears. And now somewhere amid the rocks, on the lonely mountains, on Sipylus, where, men say, are the couching-places of goddesses, even of the nymphs that range swiftly in the dance about Achelous, there, albeit a stone, she broodeth over her woes sent by the gods. But come, let us twain likewise, noble old sire, bethink us of meat; and thereafter shalt thou make lament over thy dear son, when thou hast borne him into Ilios; mourned shall he be of thee many tears."

- As Niobe proudly notes, she's also the granddaughter, via her mother Dione, of Atlas.

Weeping Rock, Mt. Sipylus, Manisa, Turkey

The dangerous imaginings of infelix Niobe

Two words that are repeatedly used in the tale of Niobe are felix - happy, fortunate, blissful - and orba - destitute, lacking, spoiled, robbed.

Niobe says:

Sum felix: quis enim neget hoc? felixque manebo:

I am happy (fortunate): who could deny this? And I will remain fortunate.

She scorns Latona:

Fingite demi
huic aliquid populo natorum posse meorum,
non tamen ad numerum redigar spoliata duorum,
200 Latonae turbam: qua quantum distat ab orba?

Imagine that some of this host of children could be taken from me, I would still not, be stripped -- reduced to the two of Latona’s "crowd." 

In that state, how far is she from childlessness?

Kline's translation of orba as "childlessness" is reasonable here, but when one looks at the etymological roots of the words "felix" and "orba," an interesting relationship emerges:

felicity

late 14c., from O.Fr. felicite (14c.) "happiness," from L. felicitatem (nom. felicitas) "happiness, fertility," from felix (gen. felicis) "happy, fortunate, fruitful, fertile," from L. base *fe-, equivalent of PIE *dhe(i)- "to suck, suckle, produce, yield" (see fecund)

fecund

early 15c., from M.Fr. fecond, from L. fecundus "fruitful, fertile, productive," from *fe-kwondo-, suffixed form of L. base *fe-, corresponding to PIE *dhe(i)- "to suck, suckle," also "produce, yield" (cf. Skt. dhayati "sucks," dhayah "nourishing;" Gk. thele"mother's breast, nipple," thelys "female, fruitful;" O.C.S. dojiti "to suckle," dojilica "nurse," deti "child;" Lith. dele "leech;" O.Prus.dadan "milk;" Goth. daddjan "to suckle;" O.Swed. dia "suckle;" O.H.G. tila "female breast;" O.Ir. denaim "I suck," dinu "lamb"). Also from the same Latin base come felare "to suck;" femina "woman" (*fe-mna-, lit. "she who suckles"); felix "happy, auspicious, fruitful;" fetus "offspring, pregnancy;" fenum "hay" (probably lit. "produce"); and probably filia/filius "daughter/son," assimilated from *felios, originally "a suckling."

If the root of felicity is to give/receive nourishment of the maternal breast (and the words for "woman" and "child" derive from the same root), the root of "orba" is precisely the privation of that breast:

orphan

c.1300, from L.L. orphanus "parentless child" (cf. O.Fr. orfeno, It. orfano), from Gk. orphanos "orphaned," lit. "deprived," fromorphos "bereft," from PIE *orbho- "bereft of father," also "deprived of free status," from base *orbh- "to change allegiance, to pass from one status to another" (cf. Hittite harb- "change allegiance," L. orbus "bereft," Skt. arbhah "weak, child," Arm. orb "orphan," O.Ir. orbe "heir," O.C.S. rabu "slave," rabota "servitude" (cf. robot), Goth. arbja, Ger. erbe, O.E. ierfa "heir," O.H.G. arabeit, Ger.Arbeit "work," O.Fris. arbed, O.E. earfoð "hardship, suffering, trouble"). The verb is attested from 1814. Related: Orphaned;orphaning.

The roots divide around the terms of breast, nourishment, freedom, fertility, plenitude (and, interestingly, "change,") vs. privation, orphanhood, enslavement and work. One might note that in Latin, liberi, the plural of liber, i.e., free, meant "children."

One could say the tale of Niobe as Ovid tells it is the story of Niobe changing from mater felix to enslaved orphan:

Orba resedit
exanimes inter natos natasque virumque (301-2)

Childless, she sat among the [lifeless] bodies of her sons, her daughters, and her husband:

Early in the tale (152: multa dabant animos), we learn that it was Niobe's children that made her most animosa - which yields both "pride" and "liveliness, spiritedness." (We recall that Arachne also had a guttura animosa).

Here Ovid subtly underscores what is happening to the mother by his use of exanimes for the children ("lifeless" -- curiously omitted in Kline's version): a kind of self-orphaning, leading, unless this is too fanciful, to a robotic condition. One must take care before saying something is too fanciful for a poet.

Niobe and the poets

This pensive tomb within no dead contains,

This pensive corpse without untomb'd remains;

For, by a strange result of fate's decree,

At once th'unburied dead and tomb you see.

~~~

The gods to stone transform'd me; but, again,

I from Praxiteles new life obtain.

Greek epigrams found in The first twenty-eight Odes of Anacreon: in Greek and in English, John B. Roche, 1827, p. 155

O Niobe, con che occhi dolenti

vedea io te segnata in su la strada,

tra sette e sette tuoi figiuoli spenti!

O Niobe, what tears afflicted me

when, on that path, I saw your effigy

among your slaughtered children, seven and seven!

Mandelbaum translation of Dante, Purgatorio XII.17-19

Dying Niobid, Horti Sallustiani

Frailty, thy name is woman!—
A little month; or ere those shoes were old
With which she followed my poor father’s body
Like Niobe, all tears;—why she, even she,—
O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason,
Would have mourn’d longer,—married with mine uncle,
My father’s brother; but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules:

Hamlet I.2

By children's births, and death, I am become

So dry, that I am now mine own sad tomb.

John Donne

Thanks to Jutta for this addition:

Oh Rome! my Country! City of the Soul!

The Orphans of the Heart must turn to thee, 695

Lone Mother of dead Empires! and controul

In their shut breasts their petty misery.

What are our woes and sufferance? Come and see

The Cypress, Hear the Owl, and plod your way

O’er steps of broken thrones and temples – Ye! 700

Whose agonies are evils of a day –

A World is at our feet as fragile as our Clay.

The Niobe of Nations! there She stands,

Childless and crownless, in her voiceless woe;

An empty Urn within her withered hands, 705

Whose holy dust was scattered long ago;

The Scipios’ tomb contains no ashes now;

The very Sepulchres lie tenantless

Of their heroic dwellers: dost thou flow,

Old Tiber! through a marble wilderness? 710

Rise, with thy yellow waves, and mantle her distress.

Lord Byron Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Canto IV.78-79

Variations upon Fate in Book 6

In Book 6, Ovid takes up not simply art per se, but art in relation to wisdom -- as we have seen in the tale of Arachne and Athena. And while the enigmatic end of that tale is still being mulled, we should note that Ovid now seems to break with the theme of "art" in the narrow sense, as he turns to Niobe.

After reading that tale, we might be in a better position to say whether Ovid has dropped his exploration of art and wisdom, or has in fact broadened it. The vast system of Greek myth gave Ovid great latitude -- by moving from the poor country girl (who could equal Athena in spinning) to the daughter of Tantalos, the most powerful queen of her day and sister of Pelops, Ovid seems to be asking us to expand our sense of what the theme, the substance of Book 6, really is.

We move, on one level, from a humble artificer to a noblewoman at the peak of her fortune, from the girl who, like a human parody of Clotho, spun her own fate, to the queen who, presuming to be absolutely in possession of her great good fortune, lived to watch the sudden severance of those lives she thought she had the measure of -- clipped by the shears of Atropos.

Tantalos, Niobe's progenitor, foreshadows her tragic end: As his daughter, she's heir to the strange fortune of her father, who was the most favored of mortals before becoming the most accursed of them.

It would take us farther afield than is reasonable, but the grouping of Tantalos, Sisyphus, Ixion and Tityos is worth exploring when we can, and not only because of their egregious eternal punishments. Tantalos, Sisyphus and Ixion were all unusually favored and gifted. They just went too far (not unlike Prometheus) -- Sisyphus got the better of Hades, Ixion tried to outwit Zeus, and Tantalos has a most peculiar story vis a vis the entire dynasty of the Olympians.

As Pindar says:

If indeed the watchers of Olympus ever honored a mortal man,

that man was Tantalus.

I hope to explore some of the features of the Tantalos figure in another post (I'll link to it here when it's up). It's enough now to note that Ovid, in moving from Arachne to Niobe to Marsyas, is touching on the making of images, of self image, and of voiced music -- before he turns to the tale of Procne and Philomela. The first three tales concern mortals vying with immortals -- as Tantalos and Co. had done. The next tale -- that of Tereus, Procne and Philomela -- concerns mortals alone. Yet as we'll see, the making of image, of self-image, and of voice return in that tale, horrifically.

My point is simply to remember that the tales of Book 6, mostly set in Asia Minor, take place in the land of one of the most enigmatic ancient characters, the son of Zeus and Pluto. Pindar's 1st Olympian continues:

If indeed the watchers of Olympus ever honored a mortal man,

that man was Tantalus.

But he was not able to digest his bliss,

and for his greed he gained overpowering ruin,

which the Father hung over him: a mighty stone.

Always longing to cast it away from his head,

he wanders far from the joy of festivity.

He has this helpless life of never-ending labor,

a fourth toil after three others,

because he stole from the gods nectar and ambrosia,

with which they had made him immortal,

and gave them to his drinking companions.

If any man expects that what he does escapes the notice of a god,

he is wrong.

Art, violence, hubris

A few questions implicit in Book 6 (Standard disclaimer: I don't know the answers, though I have some suspicions).

- What is Arachne's main offense - her art, or her attitude toward Athena?

- Does Arachne's image somehow reflect her attitude?

Perhaps a better question:

- When we compare the images woven by Athena and Arachne, how do they differ? Are we able to see different models of art?

Three kinds of certamen (that is, contest - from cerno, to separate, discern) make up the early stories of Book 6: "Athena vs. Arachne;" "Leto, Apollo, Diana vs. Niobe," and "Apollo vs. Marsyas."

- Does the story of Tantalos, king of Lydia, and Pelops, his son, relate to these tales? (Tantalos is the father of Niobe, and Pelops mourns her).

With respect to Phrygia:

The earliest traditions of Greek music derived from Phrygia, transmitted through the Greek colonies in Anatolia, and included the Phrygian mode, which was considered to be the warlike mode in ancient Greek music. Phrygian Midas, the king of the "golden touch", was tutored in music by Orpheus himself, according to the myth. Another musical invention that came from Phrygia was the aulos, a reed instrument with two pipes. Marsyas, the satyr who first formed the instrument using the hollowed antler of a stag, was a Phrygian follower of Cybele. He unwisely competed in music with the Olympian Apollo and inevitably lost, whereupon Apollo flayed Marsyas alive and provocatively hung his skin on Cybele's own sacred tree, a pine.

Marsyas, Amphion (husband of Niobe), Orpheus and Midas are all associated with Phrygia, and are linked via the power of music.

- What do we make of the brutal fate of Marsyas? And his metamorphosis - with the tears of his mourners - into a river?

- Do the differences between cithara and flute say something about what's at issue between Apollo and Marsyas?

- How does the story of Tereus, Procne and Philomela fit into the theme of art as established and anticipated in Book 5 with the story of Athena, Medusa, Pegasus and the Muses?

- What is Ovid saying in this book about the nature of art, of "creation and imitation, god and man, master and pupil," and the powers of image and of music?

Outline of Metamorphoses, Kline Translation

Each of the titles links to that tale in Kline's translation, but from a different site than what we've been using. The text is very readable, but does not have the identifying annotations.

Book 1 No Titans encountered yet Separation of the elements The earth and sea. The five zones The four winds Humankind The Golden Age The Silver Age The Bronze Age The giants Jupiter threatens to destroy humankind Lycaon is turned into a wolf Jupiter invokes the floodwaters The Flood The world is drowned Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha They ask Themis for help The human race is recreated Other species are generated Phoebus kills the Python and sees Daphne Phoebus pursues Daphne Phoebus begs Daphne to yield to him Daphne becomes the laurel bough Phoebus honours Daphne Inachus mourns for Io Jupiter's rape of Io Jupiter transforms Io to a heifer Juno claims Io and Argus guards her Inachus finds Io and grieves for her Jupiter sends Mercury to kill Argus Mercury tells the story of Syrinx Io is returned to human form Phaethon's parentage Phaethon sets out for the Palace of the Sun Book 2 The Palace of the Sun Phaethon and his father The Sun's admonitions His further warnings Phaethon insists on driving the chariot The Sun's instructions The Horses run wild Phaethon lets go of the reins The mountains burn The rivers are dried up Earth complains Jupiter intervenes and Phaethon dies Phaethon's sisters grieve for him The sisters turned into poplar trees Cycnus The Sun returns to his task Jupiter sees Callisto Jupiter rapes Callisto Diana discover's Callisto's shame Callisto turned into a bear Arcas and Callisto become constellations Juno complains to Tethys and Oceanus The Raven and the Crow The Crow's story Coronis is betrayed and Phoebus kills her Phoebus repents and saves Aesculapius Chiron and Chariclo's prophecies Mercury, Battus and the stolen cattle Mercury sees Herse Mercury elicits the help of Aglauros Minerva calls on Envy Envy poisons Aglauros's heart Aglauros is turned to stone Jupiter's abduction of Europa Book 3 Cadmus searches for his sister Europa Cadmus kills the Dragon Cadmus sows the Dragon's teeth Cadmus founds Thebes Actaeon returns from the hunt Actaeon sees Diana naked and is turned into a stag Actaeon is pursued by his hounds Actaeon is killed by the dogs Juno sets out to punish Semele Semele is consumed by Jupiter's fire The judgement of Tiresias Echo sees Narcissus How Juno altered Echo's speech Narcissus sees himself and falls in love Narcissus laments the pain of unrequited love Narcissus is changed into a flower Tiresias prophesies Pentheus's fate Pentheus rejects the worship of Bacchus Acoetes is captured and interrogated Acoetes's story the beautiful boy Acoetes's ship and crew are transformed Pentheus is killed by the Maenads Book 4 The Festival of Bacchus The daughters of Minyas reject Bacchus Arsippe tells the story of Pyramus and Thisbe The death of Pyramus The death of Thisbe Leuconoë's story: Mars and Venus Leuconoë's story: Venus's revenge The transformation of Leucothoë Clytie is transformed into the heliotrope Alcithoë tells the story of Salmacis Salmacis falls for Hermaphroditus Salmacis and Hermaphroditus merge The daughters of Minyas become bats Juno is angered by Semele's sister Ino Tisiphone maddens Athamas and Ino Ino becomes the goddess Leucothoë Juno transforms the Theban women Cadmus and Harmonia become serpents Perseus and Atlas Perseus offers to save Andromeda Perseus defeats the sea-serpent Perseus tells the story of Medusa Book 5 Phineus seeks revenge for the loss of his bride The fight: the death of Athis The fight: The deaths of Idas, Chromis and others The fight: Lampetides, Dorylas and others Perseus uses the Gorgon's head Phineus is turned to stone Minerva on Helicon The contest between the Pierides and the Muses Calliope sings: Cupid makes Dis fall in love Calliope sings: Dis and the rape of Proserpine Calliope sings: Ceres searches for Proserpine Calliope sings: Ceres asks Jupiter's help Calliope sings: Persephone's fate Calliope sings: Arethusa's story Calliope sings: Triptolemus. The Fate of the Pierides Book 6 Arachne rejects Minerva Pallas Minerva challenges Arachne Pallas weaves her web Arachne weaves hers in reply Arachne is turned into a spider Niobe rejects the worship of Latona The gods' vengeance: Niobe's sons are killed Niobe's daughters are killed: Her fate The story of Latona and the Lycians The tale of Marsyas The marriage of Procne and Tereus Tereus's passion for Procne's sister Philomela Tereus forces Philomela Philomela is mutilated The truth is revealed The pitiless feast They are transformed into birds Boreas and Orithyia Book 7 Medea agonises over her love for Jason Jason promises to marry Medea Jason wins the Golden Fleece Jason asks Medea to lengthen Aeson's life Medea summons the powers and gathers herbs Medea rejuvenates Aeson Medea's destruction of Pelias Medea flees and reaches Athens Medea attempts Theseus's life, then vanishes The praise for Theseus Minos threatens war Aeacus tells of the plague at Aegina The creation of the Myrmidons The infidelities of Cephalus and Procris The transformation of Cephalus's dog Laelaps The death of Procris Book 8 Scylla decides to betray her city of Megara Scylla, deserted, is changed to a bird The Minotaur, Theseus, and Ariadne Daedalus and Icarus The death of Talos The Calydonian Boar Hunt: the cause The Calydonian Boar Hunt: the boar is roused The Calydonian Boar Hunt: the kill The Calydonian Boar Hunt: the spoils Althaea and the burning brand The death of Meleager Acheloüs tells Theseus and his friends of Perimele Lelex tells of Philemon and Baucis The transformation of Philemon and Baucis Erysichthon fells Ceres's sacred oak tree Ceres sends Famine to Erysichthon The fate of Erysichthon and his daughter Mestra Book 9 Acheloüs wrestles with Hercules The shirt of Nessus The agony of Hercules The death and transformation of Hercules Alcmena tells of Hercules's birth and of Galanthis Iole tells the story of her half-sister Dryope The prophecies of Themis Jupiter acknowledges the power of Fate Byblis falls in love with her twin brother Caunus The fatal letter The transformation of Byblis The birth of Iphis Iphis and Ianthe Isis transforms Iphis Book 10 Orpheus and Eurydice The gathering of the trees The death of Cyparissus Orpheus sings: Ganymede; Hyacinthus Orpheus sings: The Propoetides Orpheus sings: Pygmalion and the statue Orpheus sings: Myrrha's incestuous love for Cinyras Orpheus sings: Myrrha and her nurse Orpheus sings: Myrrha's crime and punishment Orpheus sings: Venus and Adonis Venus tells her story: Atalanta and Hippomenes Venus tells her story: The footrace Venus tells her story: The transformation Orpheus sings: The death of Adonis Book 11 The death of Orpheus The transformation of the Maenads Midas and the golden touch Pan and Apollo compete before Tmolus Midas and the ass's ears Laomedon and the walls of Troy Peleus and Thetis Ceyx tells the story of Daedalion Peleus and the wolf The separation of Ceyx and Alcyone The Tempest The House of Sleep Morpheus goes to Alcyone in the form of Ceyx They are turned into birds The transformation of Aesacus Book 12 Iphigenia at Aulis The House of Rumour The death and transformation of Cycnus Nestor tells the story of Caeneus-Caenis Nestor tells of the battle of Lapiths and Centaurs The deaths of Amycus, Gryneus, Cometes The deaths of Corythus, Aphidas and others Pirithoüs, Theseus and Peleus join the fight Cyllarus and Hylonome The transformation of Caeneus Nestor tells of the death of Periclymenus The death of Achilles Book 13 The debate over the arms: Ajax speaks The debate over the arms: Ulysses speaks The death of Ajax The fall of Troy The deaths of Polydorus and Polyxena Hecuba's lament and transformation Aurora and the Memnonides Aeneas begins his wanderings The transformation of Anius's daughters The cup of Alcon Aeneas's journey to Sicily Acis and Galatea The song of Polyphemus Acis is turned into a rivergod Glaucus tells Scylla of his transformation Book 14 The transformation of Scylla Aeneas journeys to Cumae Aeneas and the Sybil of Cumae Macareus meets Achaemenides again Ulysses and Circe The transformation of Picus The fate of Canens Caieta's epitaph War in Latium: Turnus asks Diomede's help Acmon and others are changed into birds The creation of the wild olive The transformation of Aeneas's ships The heron is born from Ardea's ruins The deification of Aeneas The line of Alban kings Vertumnus woos Pomona Anaxarete and Iphis War and reconciliation with the Sabines The deification of Romulus The deification of his wife Hersilia Book 15 Myscelus: the founding of Crotona Pythagoras's Teachings: Vegetarianism Pythagoras's Teachings: Metempsychosis Pythagoras's Teachings: The Eternal Flux Pythagoras's Teachings: The Four Ages of Man Pythagoras's Teachings: The Elements Pythagoras's Teachings: Geological changes Pythagoras's Teachings: Physical changes Pythagoras's Teachings: Autogenesis Pythagoras's Teachings: The Phoenix Pythagoras's Teachings: Transfers of Power Pythagoras's Teachings: The Sanctity of Life The transformation of Hippolytus Cipus acquires horns Aesculapius, the god, saves Rome from plague The deification of Julius Caesar Ovid's celebration of Augustus Ovid's Envoi