I Think It Was Really Cruel Of Leto To Send Apollo And Artemis To Kill Niobe's Kids. I Mean All Niobe

I think it was really cruel of Leto to send Apollo and artemis to kill Niobe's kids. I mean all Niobe told was that she had more kids than leto did. Why do immortals get pissed off so easily?

Oh no no. That wasn’t just what Niobe told. I mean Leto is like the calmest of the goddesses. Niobe was so egoistic that she managed to piss off Leto. And no, it wasn’t just about “I have more kids than Leto.” 

“Niobe spoke rather contemptuously against Apollo and Diana because Diana was girt in man’s attire, and Apollo wore long hair and a woman’s gown.” Yup. She made fun of Apollo for being feminine and Artemis for being masculine. In a wrong, insulting way. (Okay but Apollo in woman’s gown tho asdfkjjd) 

Also when women of Thebes gathered to worship Leto, Niobe comes and boasts about herself. Here are the things Niobe basically said

- “why do you people worship a goddess you’ve never seen instead of worshipping the goddess right in front of you?”

- “everyone must acknowledge my pride and no more worship this Leto who is the daughter of ignoble Koios. I definitely have a superior birth”. Yup as if Tantalus was better than Koios lol.

- “Leto bore two children, who, compared with mine, are but as one to seven”. Gurl are you missing the fact that they’re both Gods while your 14 kids are mortals?? 

- “Let Leto’s rage despoil me of large substance; yet so much would still be mine, for I have risen above the blight of apprehension.” Of course. So what if Leto causes a little bit of destruction? Niobe already has so much that she doesn’t need to fear of losing anything significant. 

- “But, suppose a few of my fair children should be taken! Even so deprived, I could not be reduced to only two, as this Latona, who, might quite as well be childless” Omfg Niobe you fucking asked for it! what were you even thinking?? Forget being reduced to having 2 kids. You won’t have kids at all.

After that she orders all the women to stop giving offerings to Leto and the women agree against their wishes. Listen. If I had roamed the entire world in pain to give birth to my kids and if someone would make fun of these kids, and upon that call me motherless and inferior, I’d be MAD. Niobe is a mortal. All her children are mortal. What even made her think that she would be equal, or superior to Leto, an immortal titaness? She was filled with so much pride. Superiority and ego had blinded her so much that she thought that even if some of her kids would die she’d still be greater than Leto. At that point she didn’t care for her kids. All she cared was for her pride. And she paid the price. A horrible horrible price.

But Leto didn’t directly order to kill her children. She calls Apollo and Artemis and complaints to them. Before she could tell what punishment should be given, Apollo cuts in and says “Enough with the complaint, it will only delay her doom”. And Artemis agrees and they both go to teach Niobe a lesson. I don’t think Leto actually wanted Niobe to lose all her kids. Because when her youngest son and daughter pray to Leto for mercy, Leto obliges and asks Apollo and Artemis to spare those two kids. The decision to kill Niobe’s kids was not Leto’s completely.

So you see, it wasn’t just about Niobe saying she has more kids than Leto. I mean, why would call the goddess of motherhood childless?? Niobe was full of hubris, something that Gods don’t tolerate at all. Niobe deserved to be punished. But the tragic part is that her whole family had to pay the price for her insolence. Because the best way to destroy ego is by destroying it’s cause - and Niobe’s children were the cause for her pride and boast. It’s really heartbreaking. The way her children die, her lamentation and grief - it’s heart-wrenching. I feel so so so sorry for her, but I don’t blame Leto for that. Or Apollo and Artemis for that matter. In the end, what we can take away from this myth is that our ego can not only cause our downfall, but can also destroy our loved ones. And that is why, we should stay away from ego.

screaming crying throwing up

Fury of Achilles

by Charles-Antoine Copel

...and in a flash Poseidon and Athena went to him and stood beside him, assuming the forms of men. Taking his hand in their hands, they assured him with their words; and Poseidon who shakes the earth was first of them to speak: “Son of Peleus, do not shrink back, nor be alarmed; such allies are we two gods who stand by you with Zeus approving, I and Pallas Athena.​ Since you are not destined to be killed by a river, he will soon give way—you yourself will see this. But we have close advice for you, if you will heed it; do not rest your hands from war that levels all alike, until you have penned within Ilion’s famed walls the Trojan men, those who should escape you. And after you have stripped the life from Hector, return to your ships; we grant you to win glory.”

The Iliad, Book 21, Lines 284-297

Hermitage

That's a good question, where the hell am I too?

where am i

@sol-thorne Hi! Please don't make a Telegony or similar, please don't have THAT work in mind for inspiration, pls, There's so much more.

Hope the best and have fun doing so! And amazing art!

Currently working on a graphic novel (which will still be a concept until an editor decides it's worth paying me to complete), I don't have much yet, working on concept pages. For now have those character drawings as I keep working on scenario and storyboarding-

The temporary title is Odysseus: the last journey, and it's going to be pretty much a sequel to the Odyssey. Featuring Telemachus, Diomedes, and a lot of old and godly faces.