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Roman fresco: Apollo and Artemis shoot the sons of Niobe, who flee (partly on horseback) in an idyllic landscape, 1st c. BC - 1st c. AD Roman sarcophagus: Apollo and Artemis killing the 14 children of Niobe (front side). Artemis; 5 daughters with a nurse; younger son with a pedagogue; 3 other sons; Apollo. Top: dead Niobids. 160–170 Ad
Using arrows, Artemis killed Niobe's daughters and Apollo killed Niobe's sons. According to some versions, at least two of Niobe's children (usually Meliboea, along with her brother Amyclas in other renderings) was spared. Their father, Amphion, at the sight of his dead sons, either killed himself or was killed by Apollo for having sworn revenge.
Meliboea was the only one (or one of two) spared when Artemis and Apollo killed the Niobids in retribution for Niobe's insult to their mother Leto, bragging that she had many children while Leto had only two. Meliboea was so frightened by the ordeal, she turned permanently pale, changing her name to Chloris ("pale one").
For her hubris, Apollo killed her sons as they practiced athletics, and Artemis killed her daughters. Apollo and Artemis used poisoned arrows to kill them, though according to some versions a number of the Niobids were spared. Other sources say that Artemis spared one of the girls (Chloris, usually). Amphion, at the sight of his dead sons ...
Niobe, a boastful woman, attracted the wrath of Artemis and her brother Apollo, who were furious at Niobe for taunting their mother. Artemis then decided to kill all of her daughters while Apollo killed all of her sons, thus all of her children were killed. Amphion committed suicide after the death of his beloved children.
This story is rarely represented in Greek art. Niobe had bragged that she was superior to the goddess Leto because she had seven boys and seven girls, while Leto was mother to just two children, Apollo and Artemis. To punish Niobe for her hubris, Leto sent Apollo and Artemis to kill all of Niobe's children with arrows. [3]
It was said that the boys, whom Apollo slew, were killed while they were hunting in the woods. Their father, Amphion, committed suicide at the sight of the lifeless bodies of his sons, or was slain by Apollo while storming his temple in protest. Niobe herself would be transformed into rock following the slaying of the daughters.
Accordingly, Apollo killed Niobe's sons, and Artemis her daughters. According to some versions of the myth, among the Niobids, Chloris and her brother Amyclas were not killed because they prayed to Leto. Amphion, at the sight of his dead sons, either killed himself or was killed by Apollo after swearing revenge. [citation needed]