Contents
The Myth of Niobe
How the Myth Was Handed Down
Dramatis Personae
Niobe Speaks as an Abyssinian Woman
A Niobe Poem by David Ignatow
Scene 1: The Gods / The Myth / The Accident
The Little King
The Gods Are Optional
Afterwards Apollo
But Artemis
The Death of the Niobids
Scene 2: Before the Accident / A Family Romance
Tenderness
Jeunes meres
Perfect
Child Abuse
Thief
Menage a trois
Family Life
Fragile
Amphion and the New Gnostics
Her Body
Bathing
Precious
Scene 3: After the Accident / The Funeral
After Pain Passes
The Bedspread
Final Visit
The Poem
"I Was Afraid of Him"
Lying Down
Still Lying Down
Before the Funeral
After the Funeral
Scene 4: The End of the Story / A New Narration / A New Niobe
The First Day of the Rest of Her Life
Niobe of the Painting
Sorrow Figure
Ethiopia
Bus Ride
War Photograph
The Fire Mystery
Ars Poetica
The New Niobe
Epilogue
Notes