202 THE MYTHS OF CREATION: THE GODS
Death of the Children of Niobe. Attic red-figure krater by the Niobid painter, ca. 460 B.C.;
height 2IV4 in. The stark cruelty of the gods is shown by the cool detachment of Artemis
as she reaches for an arrow out of her quiver, and equally by the restrained energy of
Apollo. The Niobids are painted in a rocky landscape (only formally sketched) and dis-
posed on different levels, an unusual technique for vase-painters of the time, and possi-
bly related to contemporary wall-painting: contrast the contemporary Death of Actaeon,
on oaee 205. (Paris, Louvre.)
