SPECIAL POST — The Greek mythological character Niobe was the subject of a tough clue from the March 28 crossword puzzle by Peter Gordon: “‘Like ___, all tears’: Hamlet.”
Niobe is most closely associated with tears, which was acknowledged in William Shakespeare’s play, “Hamlet,” in Act I, Scene 2:
“A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she followed my poor father’s body,
Like Niobe, all tears. Why she, even she —
O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason
Would have mourned longer! — married with my uncle …”
It was arrogance that was Niobe’s undoing, and the cause of her tears.
The tragic story of Niobe’s tears began at a ceremony held to honor the Titan Leto, mother of the divine twins Apollo and Artemis. In a fit of arrogance, Niobe bragged that she was superior to Leto because she bore either 12 or 14 children (the number varies in different versions of the myth), compared with Leto’s two.
When the twins heard this, they came to Earth and killed all of Niobe’s children. In deep anguish, she ran to Mount Sipylus to beg the gods to put an end to her pain. Zeus felt sorry for her and turned her into a rock, so she would not feel anymore.
However, even as a rock, Niobe’s tears continued to flow, and the stream that pours from the real Weeping Rock in Manisa, Turkey, symbolizes a mother’s eternal mourning.
How It Might be Clued
NIOBE has appeared in The New York Times Crossword 139 times.
Early week: “Weeper of myth,” “Mythical weeper,” “Weeper of Greek myth”
Mid-to-late week: “‘Like ___, all tears’: Hamlet,” “Boastful mother of Greek myth,” “Daughter of Tantalus,” “Zeus turned her to stone,” “Analogue of Lot’s wife in Greek mythology,” “Petrified weeper of myth,” “Weeper of Thebes,” “Whom Turkey’s Weeping Rock is said to represent”