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Niobe, a MythSource painting
Greek

Niobe

01Identity

Niobe in Greek tradition

Niobe is a queen in Ovid's Metamorphoses whose pride in her children leads to the destruction of her family. She is the daughter of Tantalus and the wife of Amphion, and rules in Thebes. When the women of the city honour Latona and her children, Niobe demands that they worship her instead. She boasts of her seven sons and seven daughters, comparing them with Latona's two children, and orders the sacrifice to stop. Latona calls on her children to punish the insult. Niobe loses her sons and daughters, while Amphion ends his own life. Grief leaves her motionless among their bodies, and her body hardens into stone. A wind carries her to her native land, where the stone continues to shed tears.

SourceThe Metamorphoses of Ovid, Niobe, daughter of Tantalus, and her children, printed pp. 198–203

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The quick answers

02The myths

The myths of Niobe

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Niobe, daughter of Tantalus, and her children

Niobe entered the Theban streets while the women were offering incense to Latona. She questioned their choice to honour a goddess with two children instead of herself. Niobe named her father Tantalus, spoke of her royal kin and husband, and counted seven sons and seven daughters. Her children, she said, made her fortune secure. Even if some were taken from her, she would still have more than Latona. The women stopped the sacrifice and left the laurel from their hair, but they continued to honour Latona in quiet prayers.

The goddess sent Apollo and Diana to answer Niobe's boast. They came to the plain where her sons were exercising. Ismenus fell first, struck while guiding his horse. Sipylus tried to escape, but an arrow reached him. Two brothers wrestling together died from one shaft. The remaining sons fell as they ran to help one another, and Amphion killed himself with his sword. Niobe gathered the bodies and continued to challenge Latona. Her daughters stood beside their brothers' biers. Diana's arrows struck them in turn. Niobe covered the youngest and begged that at least one child be spared, but the girl died in her mother's arms. Niobe sat among her dead family, unable to move or speak. Wind carried her to Mount Sipylus. There she became stone, and tears continued to run from the marble.

Niobe, daughter of Tantalus, and her children, a MythSource painting of the scene

9 sources· checked 2026-10-01

  1. 1The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  2. 2The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  3. 3The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  4. 4The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  5. 5The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  6. 6The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  7. 7The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  8. 8The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  9. 9The Metamorphoses of OvidT1

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Niobe, each on that figure’s page.