Niobe was the mother of a large and attractive family. She insisted that her six sons and six daughters were the most beautiful and the smartest ever. Her urge to brag on them was irresistible. Though the excessive flaunting of her pride gave her great pleasure, it engendered anger in others. She made the mistake of boasting about her numerous and gifted offspring to the powerful Leto, mother of twins--Apollo and Artemis. In reaction to their mother's subsequent anger, Apollo shot all of Niobe's sons and Artemis killed the daughters. Niobe was driven to insane despair from which she never recovered. The powerful Leto had the final word for, eventually, Zeus changed Niobe into a stone in which she remains imprisoned.
Martha is the founder of a vast and successful media empire. With an irresistibly insatiable quest for success, she became America 's first self-made female stock market billionaire. Because her wealth was derived from providing resources which made women feel good about their domestic role she was subjected to condescension from the male-dominated media industry who made no secret of wanting to see her fall on her face. When, in her prideful arrogance, she lied about receiving inside information on a stock deal, it was easy for the financial world to vilify her and rejoice when she was convicted and sentenced to prison. |
