Editing Apollo (section)

====''Homeric Hymn to Apollo''====
Pregnant with the offspring of Zeus, Leto wandered through many lands wanting to give birth to Apollo. However all the lands rejected her out of fear. Upon reaching Delos, Leto requested the island to shelter her, and that in return her son would bring fame and prosperity to the island. Delos then revealed to Leto that Apollo was rumoured to be the god who will "greatly lord it among gods and men all over the fruitful earth". For this reason, all the lands were fearful and Delos feared that Apollo would cast her aside once he is born. Hearing this, Leto swore on the river Styx that if she is allowed to give birth on the island, her son would honour Delos the most amongst all the other lands. Assured by this, Delos agreed to assist Leto. All goddesses except Hera also came to aid Leto.<ref name=":0" />

However, Hera had tricked [[Eileithyia]], the goddess of childbirth, to stay on Olympus, due to which Leto was unable to give birth. The goddesses then convinced Iris to go bring Eileithyia by offering her a necklace of amber 9 yards (8.2 m) long. Iris did accordingly and persuaded Eileithyia to step onto the island. Thus, clutching a palm tree, Leto finally gave birth after labouring for nine days and nine nights, with Apollo "leaping forth" from his mother's womb. The goddesses washed the newborn, covered him in a white garment and fastened golden bands around him. As Leto was unable to feed him, [[Themis]], the goddess of divine law, fed him nectar and [[ambrosia]]. Upon tasting the divine food, the child broke free of the bands fastened onto him and declared that he would be the master of [[lyre]] and archery, and interpret the will of Zeus to humankind. He then started to walk, which caused the island to be filled with gold.<ref name=":0">"Homeric hymn to Delian Apollo"</ref>