Bertolt Brecht's "Niobes": Example, Interruption, and Model.

This article examines how Bertolt Brecht employed the ancient figure of Niobe as a model for several of his female characters across different plays, including his adaptation of Sophocles' *Antigone*, Polly Peachum in *The Threepenny Opera*, and the relationship between Mother Courage and her daughter Kattrin in *Mother Courage and Her Children*. Niobe, known from classical mythology for her excessive grief after the death of her children, serves as a complex symbol of sorrow (Trauer) that Brecht’s characters both embody and resist, enabling a dialectical engagement with tragedy and mourning. Drawing on Walter Benjamin’s theories of the German *Trauerspiel* (mourning play), the article highlights Brecht’s use of the “model” and the concept of the *Halt* (a stop or interruption) as dramaturgical devices that foster critical reflection and emotional involvement in his epic theatre. Through these examples, Brecht’s work is shown to negotiate historical suffering and human agency by transforming classical motifs into modern theatrical forms that challenge fate and invite spectators to engage thoughtfully with social and political crises.