Niobe quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Which genre best describes "Niobe"?

   • Correct answer: Classical myth retold in prose
   • Historical chronicle of a reign
   • Beast fable with a stated moral
   • Gothic tale of horror and dread

   Right. Bulfinch retells a myth of ancient Greece in plain prose, with gods who punish a proud mortal.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Whose fate does Bulfinch say should have taught Niobe not to compare herself with the gods?

   • Pandora
   • Phaethon
   • Correct answer: Arachne
   • Narcissus

   The myth opens: "The fate of Arachne was noised abroad through all the country," and it served as a warning to mortals not to compare themselves with the gods. Niobe "failed to learn the lesson of humility."

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3. 3

   Question 3. What were the people of Thebes doing when Niobe appeared among the crowd?

   • Welcoming Amphion home from a war with Phrygia
   • Correct answer: Celebrating the yearly festival of Latona and her twins
   • Holding a royal feast for the wedding of Niobe's eldest son
   • Watching the annual games held in honor of Juno

   It was "the annual celebration in honor of Latona and her offspring, Apollo and Diana," and the people were bringing frankincense to the altars when Niobe arrived.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Bulfinch says one thing above all made Niobe proud. What was it?

   • Her husband's fame as the builder of Thebes
   • Her beauty, which she said rivaled a goddess's
   • Her descent from Tantalus, a guest of the gods
   • Correct answer: Her children, seven sons and seven daughters

   Bulfinch says it was not her husband's fame, her beauty, her descent or her power: "It was her children." She boasts, "I have seven sons and seven daughters."

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5. 5

   Question 5. How many children did Latona have?

   • Correct answer: Two
   • Seven
   • Fourteen
   • Three

   Niobe mocks "this Latona, the Titan's daughter, with her two children": Apollo and Diana. Niobe has seven times as many.

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6. 6

   Question 6. How did the people respond when Niobe told them to stop worshiping Latona?

   • They finished the rites and then went home
   • They drove Niobe out of the temple in anger
   • Correct answer: They obeyed and left the sacred rites unfinished
   • They prayed to Latona to forgive their queen

   "The people obeyed, and left the sacred services uncompleted." Niobe's pride did not only insult Latona; it stopped her worship.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Bulfinch says Arachne's fate warned "all presumptuous mortals not to compare themselves with the divinities." What does presumptuous mean?

   • Easily frightened by signs of danger
   • Correct answer: Overly bold in claiming what is not theirs
   • Deeply devoted to the worship of all the gods
   • Humble and respectful toward those above

   Presumptuous means too bold, taking liberties one has no right to. Niobe is presumptuous when she claims the worship that belongs to a goddess. Humble is its opposite.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Why does Apollo interrupt his mother while she is complaining about Niobe?

   • He fears that Juno will overhear them
   • He wants Diana to punish Niobe alone
   • He thinks Niobe deserves to be forgiven
   • Correct answer: He says speech only delays punishment

   "Say no more," said Apollo; "speech only delays punishment." Diana says the same, and the twins fly at once to Thebes.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Where were Niobe's sons when the arrows began to fall?

   • In the palace hall, seated at a royal banquet
   • On a ship in the harbor, setting out to sea
   • Correct answer: On a plain by the gates, at warlike sports
   • In the temple of Latona, kneeling at prayer

   "Spread out before the gates was a broad plain, where the youth of the city pursued their warlike sports." The sons were there, some on horses and some in chariots.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What happens to Ilioneus, the last of Niobe's sons?

    • Correct answer: Apollo relents, but the arrow is already loosed
    • Diana finds and strikes him where he hides in fear
    • Apollo spares him, and he escapes to Phrygia
    • He dies trying to help his younger brothers

    Ilioneus prays, "Spare me, ye gods!" and "Apollo would have spared him, but the arrow had already left the string, and it was too late." It was Alphenor who died going to his brothers' aid.

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11. 11

    Question 11. Who was Niobe's father?

    • Cadmus
    • Alphenor
    • Amphion
    • Correct answer: Tantalus

    Niobe boasts, "My father was Tantalus, who was received as a guest at the table of the gods." Amphion is her husband and Alphenor one of her sons.

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12. 12

    Question 12. How does Niobe react when she first learns that her sons are dead?

    • She faints and does not wake again for seven days
    • Correct answer: She is outraged and amazed the gods could do it
    • She begs Latona at once to forgive her pride
    • She blames Amphion for angering the gods

    "She could hardly think it possible; she was indignant that the gods had dared and amazed that they had been able to do it." Even now she does not feel humbled.

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13. 13

    Question 13. Kneeling by her dead sons, Niobe tells Latona, "Bereaved as I am, I am still richer than you." Why does she think so?

    • Correct answer: She still has seven daughters, and Latona has two children
    • She believes her sons will rise again from the grave
    • She expects the people of Thebes to worship her now
    • She still owns more land and gold than any goddess

    With her seven daughters still living, Niobe keeps counting children against Latona's two. The boast shows her pride has survived her grief, and the bow sounds again as soon as she has spoken.

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14. 14

    Question 14. After all her children die, Niobe "seemed torpid with grief." What does torpid mean?

    • Quietly hopeful that the worst was over
    • Correct answer: Numb and motionless, without any life
    • Wildly restless and unable to sit still
    • Bitterly angry and eager for revenge

    Torpid means sluggish, numb, almost without motion. Bulfinch uses it as the first step of Niobe's change to stone: soon "there was no sign of life about her."

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15. 15

    Question 15. What does the stream that trickles from the rock stand for at the end of the myth?

    • Latona's tears of regret for her harsh revenge
    • The blood of the children struck by the arrows
    • The gods' mercy, washing Niobe's pride away
    • Correct answer: Niobe's endless grief for the family she lost

    Niobe remains "a mass of rock, from which a trickling stream flows, the tribute of her never-ending grief." Her body turns to stone, but her sorrow never stops.

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16. 16

    Question 16. Which lesson does the myth of Niobe most clearly teach?

    • Great wealth cannot protect a city from war
    • Grief is cured only by time and patience
    • Correct answer: Mortals who rank themselves with the gods are humbled
    • Parents must love all their children equally

    This is the Greek idea of hubris, pride that sets a mortal above the gods. Niobe "failed to learn the lesson of humility" and claimed Latona's worship, so she lost everything.

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17. 17

    Question 17. In which city is the famous statue of Niobe kept?

    • Thebes
    • Rome
    • Correct answer: Florence
    • Athens

    Bulfinch says the story is the subject of "a celebrated statue in the imperial gallery of Florence."

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18. 18

    Question 18. Which of these happen in the story?

    • Niobe says her father dined with the gods and her mother was a goddess.

      Happened

      She boasts that Tantalus "was received as a guest at the table of the gods; my mother was a goddess."

    • Latona flies down to Thebes herself to watch the punishment of Niobe.

      Didn't happen

      Latona stays on the Cynthian mountain top. Apollo and Diana fly to Thebes, veiled in clouds.

    • Two young brothers who are wrestling are pierced by a single arrow.

      Happened

      "As they stood breast to breast, one arrow pierced them both."

    • Ilioneus, the last son, is spared after he prays to all the gods.

      Didn't happen

      Apollo would have spared him, "but the arrow had already left the string, and it was too late."

    • Niobe's husband, Amphion, overwhelmed by the loss, takes his own life.

      Happened

      "Her husband, Amphion, overwhelmed with the blow, destroyed himself."

    • Niobe humbly asks Latona's pardon after her seven sons are killed.

      Didn't happen

      She does the opposite: she calls Latona cruel and claims she is "still richer than you, my conqueror."

    • One daughter dies while she is trying to comfort her grieving mother.

      Happened

      "Another, attempting to console her mother, suddenly ceased to speak, and sank lifeless to the earth."

    • The gods grant Niobe's prayer and spare her youngest daughter's life.

      Didn't happen

      Niobe cries, "O spare me one of so many!" and while she speaks, that one falls dead.

    • Tears keep flowing from Niobe even after she has been changed to stone.

      Happened

      "She was changed to stone, within and without. Yet tears continued to flow."

    • Niobe's stone figure is left standing in the marketplace of Thebes.

      Didn't happen

      She is "borne on a whirlwind to her native mountain," where she remains as a rock with a stream flowing from it.

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