ACT I SCENE II: "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,
My father's brother, but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules."
He compared his mother to Niobe, a character in Greek mythology that mourned for the death of her children for eternity. Hamlet thought his mother was cruel for not pausing and mourning for his father but instead, betrayed him by marrying his brother shortly afterwards.