Wylie. Period 6. Team 2. Greek/Roman Synthesis Question (:

THE DYING NIOBID (450-440 BC)

Rome Museo Nazionale (National Museum of Rome)

The statue named The Dying Niobid stands strong as a representation of the consequences of excessive pride. The marble figure of Niobe’s daughter is one of antiquity’s most tragic mythic figures. The story of Niobe is an example of the consequences of boasting before a god or goddess. Niobe had offended the goddess of motherhood, Leto, who is also the mother of Artemis (goddess of hunting and the wilderness) and Apollo (god of the sun). Niobe compared herself to the Leto, saying she had given birth to 12 children while the goddess only had two children. Even so, with the two children, Artemis and Apollo, Niobe’s 12 children were killed. “Apollo… with his silver bow he killed the sons. The daughters, Artemis the Archer had slaughtered.” (Homer Iliad, Book 24) For this lesson to never be forgotten, The Dying Niobid, a daughter of Niobe, is sculpted in a moment where she is falling to her knees, trying to reach for the arrow that had been shot into her back. However, this tragic statue shows more than a lesson; as the sorrowful statue is pained and falling to her knees, her garments slip off, symbolizing the bareness and stripped purity of Niobe. Nudity in Greek culture is usually reserved for the gods and the male figures. Due to her mother’s arrogance, the daughter of Niobe had to suffer. To maintain respect and honor for the gods, Leto had to straighten Niobe’s code of honor; being the goddess of motherhood, Leto knew what pains a mother the most: the loss of her children. This consequential act by a goddess embodies the Greek culture during the Classical period of Greece. Although pride and vanity were not sins, the Greeks emphasized moderation. In the story, Niobe expressed excessive pride therefore committed hubris. Anything in the extremes was considered hubris, even excessive eating or drinking. Many of Greek’s respect for the nobility and morality exist today.