Artemis, Apollo and the Tears of Niobe

Niobe was the wife of Amphion, the King of Thebes. Together they had seven sons and seven daughters they were very proud of.

One day, Niobe was boasting that she superior than Leto, since Leto was only blessed with two children, Apollo, the god of the sun and Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. Outraged by the insult, Leto swore revenge on Niobe, so she asked from Apollo and Artemis to eliminate her children one by one.

Apollo and Artemis obeyed and they killed all fourteen children with arrows dipped in poison; Apollo aimed at the male, whereas Artemis aimed at the female children. After their awful death, Niobe’s children were to remain unburied for whole nine days, for Zeus Almighty would turn into stone anyone who attempted to bury them.

Inconsolable as the royal couple was, Amphion committed suicide, while Niobe resorted to Sipylos, a city of the Near East. Once there, she pleaded with the gods for mercy, asking from them to take away her life. The gods finally sympathized and they turned Niobe into stone, placing her right at the peak of the city.

From then on, every summer one could see drops of water seeping out of the stone's pores...they were nothing but the tears of Niobe!