Editing Leto (section)

=== Birth of Artemis and Apollo ===
[[File:Metropolitan Richart Latona.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Leto with her children, by [[William Henry Rinehart]]]]

==== Earlier accounts ====
[[Hesiod]] makes her the sixth out of the seven wives of Zeus, who bore his children before his marriage to Hera,<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/4#912 912&ndash;920]; Morford, p. 211.</ref> however this element is absent in later accounts, all of which speak of a liaison between the two, that ended up in Leto falling pregnant. When Hera, the goddess of marriage and family, queen of the gods and the wife of Zeus, figured it out, she pursued her relentlessly.

The ''[[Homeric Hymn]] 3 to Apollo'' is the oldest extant account of Leto's wandering and birth of her children, but it is only concerned with the birth of Apollo, and treats Artemis as an afterthought; in fact the hymn does not even state that Leto's children are twins, and they are given different birthplaces (he in Delos, she in [[Ortygia]]).{{sfn|Shelmerdine|1995|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VVowBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA63 63]}} The first to speak of Leto's children being twins is a slightly later poet, Pindar.{{sfn|Rutherford|2001|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=gPjZOB1YNqAC&pg=PA368 368]}} The two earliest poets, [[Homer]] and [[Hesiod]], confirm Artemis and Apollo's status as full siblings born to Leto by Zeus, but neither explicitly makes them twins.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 1.9] and [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D21%3Acard%3D502 21.502–510]; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D901 918–920]</ref>

[[File:Latona with Her Children Apollo and Diana LACMA M.78.86.jpg|thumb|250px|Leto holding Apollo, by Lazar Widmann|left]]

According to the ''Homeric Hymn'' 3 ''to Delian Apollo'', Leto travelled far and wide to find a place to give birth, but none of them dared be the birthplace of Apollo. After having arrived at Delos, she labored for nine nights and nine days, in the presence of Dione, [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]], [[Ichnaea]], Themis and [[Amphitrite]].<ref>''[[Homeric Hymn]] ''3'' to [[Apollo]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D3%3Acard%3D89 89&ndash;97].</ref> Only Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, was not present; she, unaware of the situation, was with jealous Hera on Olympus.<ref>''[[Homeric Hymn]] ''3'' to [[Apollo]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D3%3Acard%3D89 98&ndash;102]; Gantz p. 38.</ref> 

[[File:Arte romana, latona in fuga con artemide e apollo, 350-400 dc ca. (kunstsien stichting).jpg|thumb|right|220px|''Leto on the run with Artemis and Apollo'', Roman statue circa 350-400 AD]]

Her absence, which was preventing Leto from giving birth, kept her in labor for nine days. According to the Homeric hymn, the goddesses who assembled to witness the birth of Apollo were responding to a public occasion in the rites of a dynasty, where the authenticity of the child must be established beyond doubt from the first moment.

The dynastic rite of the witnessed birth must have been familiar to the hymn's hearers.<ref>Greek women, at least among Athenians, gave birth in the midst of a crowd of women from the household.</ref> The dynasty that is so concerned about being authenticated in this myth is the new dynasty of Zeus and the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian Pantheon]], and the goddesses at Delos who bear witness to the rightness of the birth are the great goddesses of the old order. 

Demeter was not present and [[Aphrodite]] was not either, but Rhea attended. The goddess Dione (her name simply means "divine" or "she-Zeus") is sometimes taken by later mythographers as a mere feminine form of Zeus (see entry [[Dodona]]). If that was the case, she would not have assembled there. Then, on the ninth day, Eileithyia was sent for by the messenger goddess [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]], who persuaded her with a necklace and brought her to Delos.<ref>''[[Homeric Hymn]] ''3'' to [[Apollo]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D3%3Acard%3D89 103&ndash;114]; Gantz p. 38.</ref> 

As soon as Eileithyia arrived, Apollo was finally allowed to be born, and was given [[ambrosia]] and nectar by [[Themis]], rather than breastmilk.<ref>''[[Homeric Hymn]] ''3'' to [[Apollo]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D3%3Acard%3D89 115&ndash;124]; Gantz p. 38.</ref> Preceding the myth of Apollo's birth, the preface of the hymn begins with the status quo that was then established, namely that Leto is now by the side of Zeus in Olympus, both proudly watching Apollo exercise his archery skills, and she is ever glad for having borne the king of gods such a splendid son and archer.

==== Later accounts ====
According to the ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'', "But Latona for her intrigue with Zeus was hunted by Hera over the whole earth, till she came to Delos and brought forth first Artemis, by the help of whose midwifery she afterwards gave birth to Apollo."<ref>''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.4.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022 1.4.1]; [[Antoninus Liberalis]], ''Metamorphoses'' [https://topostext.org/work/216#35 35], giving as his sources Menecrates of Xanthos (4th century BCE) and [[Nicander]] of Colophon; [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph6.htm#480077263 6.317–381] provides another late literary source.</ref>

[[Antoninus Liberalis]] hints that Leto came down from [[Hyperborea]] in the guise of a she-wolf, or that she sought out the "wolf-country" of Lycia, formerly called Tremilis, which she renamed to honour wolves that had befriended her.<ref>Antoninus Liberalis' [[etiology|etiological myth]] reflects Greek misunderstanding of a Greek origin for the place-name ''Lycia''; modern scholars now suggest a source in the "[[Lukka lands]]" of Hittite inscriptions (Bryce 1983:5).</ref> Another late source, [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]], also links Leto with wolves and Hyperboreans:

<blockquote>Wolves are not easily delivered of their young, only after twelve days and twelve nights, for the people of Delos maintain that this was the length of time that it took Leto to travel from the Hyperboreoi to Delos.<ref>[[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]], ''On the Nature of Animals'' [https://topostext.org/work/560#4.4 4.4] (A.F. Scholfield, tr.).</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Marcantonio Franceschini 002.jpg|thumb|left|260px|''The Birth of Apollo and Diana'', [[Marcantonio Franceschini]], [[oil on canvas]], ca 1692-1709,	[[Liechtenstein Museum]].]]

Leto found the barren floating island of Delos, still bearing its archaic name of Asterios, which was neither mainland nor a real island and gave birth there, promising the island wealth from the worshippers who would flock to the obscure birthplace of the splendid god who was to come. As a gesture of gratitude, Delos was secured with four pillars and later became sacred to Apollo.

[[File:1769 Mengs Latona mit ihren Kindern Apoll und Diana Historisches Museum Bamberg anagoria.jpg|thumb|''Latona with her children Apollo and Diana'', oil painting, [[Anton Raphael Mengs]], 1769]]

[[Callimachus]] states that not only did every place on earth refuse to give sanctuary to Leto out of fear of Hera, but the queen of gods had also deployed [[Ares]] and Iris to drive Leto away from anywhere she tried to settle in, so she would not give birth to her twins.<ref>[[Callimachus]], ''Hymn to Delos'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/callimachus-hymns_hymn_iv_delos/1921/pb_LCL129.89.xml 67&ndash;69]</ref> Leto considered the island of Kos for a birthplace, but Apollo, still in the womb, advised his mother against giving birth to him there, saying Kos was fated to be the birthplace of [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|someone else]].<ref>[[Callimachus]], ''Hymns'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/callimachus-hymns_hymn_iv_delos/1921/pb_LCL129.99.xml?result=4&rskey=An74ab 4.159-172]</ref> He later urged his mother to go to Delos,<ref>[[Callimachus]], ''Hymns'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/callimachus-hymns_hymn_iv_delos/1921/pb_LCL129.101.xml?result=4&rskey=An74ab 4.190-195]</ref> who used to Leto's sister Asteria. Delos was the only place on earth willing to receive Leto when she went into labour, defying Hera's orders.<ref name=":0">[[Callimachus]], ''Hymn to Delos'' [https://archive.org/details/callimachuslycop00calluoft/page/104/mode/2up?view=theater 240–248]</ref> Callimachus wrote that it is remarkable that Leto brought forth Artemis, the elder twin, without travail<ref>[[Callimachus]], ''Hymn 3 to Artemis'' [http://www.katinkahesselink.net/other/artemis.html 24-25]; Artemis speaks: "my mother suffered no pain either when she gave me birth or when she carried me in her womb, but without travail put me from her body".</ref> despite her exhausting journey. Although Hera was enraged that Asteria had defied her and allowed Leto to give birth to the products of Zeus' liaison, she did no harm to Asteria, out of respect for her for not sleeping with Zeus when he chased her, thus not further defiling Hera's marriage.<ref name=":0" />

[[Libanius]] wrote that neither land nor visible islands would receive Leto, but by the will of Zeus Delos then became visible, and thus received Leto and the children.<ref>[[Libanius]], ''[[Progymnasmata]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=kRi-If9IAOYC&pg=PA28 2.25]</ref>

According to [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], when Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant by Zeus, she banned Leto from giving birth on "[[Solid earth|terra firma]]", the mainland, any island at sea, or any place under the sun. But Zeus then sent [[Anemoi#Boreas|Boreas]], the god of the north wind, to Leto, who brought her to [[Poseidon]]. Poseidon then raised high waves above [[Ortygia]], shielding it from the light of the sun with a water dome; it was later called the island of Delos. There Leto, clinging to an olive tree, bore Apollo and Artemis after four days.<ref name=":fab">[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#140 140]; March s.v. [https://archive.org/details/casselldictionar00jenn/page/233/mode/2up?view=theater Leto]</ref>

According to the Homeric Hymn and the ''[[Orphic Hymns|Orphic Hymn]]'' 35 ''to Leto'', Artemis was born on the island of [[Ortygia]] before Apollo was on Delos.<ref>''[[Homeric Hymn]]'' 3 ''to [[Apollo]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D3%3Acard%3D1 14&ndash;18]; Gantz, p. 38; cf. ''[[Orphic Hymns|Orphic Hymn]]'' 35 ''to Leto'', 3&ndash;5 (Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 31).</ref> [[Stephanus of Byzantium]] also states that Artemis was born before Apollo, however he claims that she was born at Coressus.<ref>[[Stephanus of Byzantium]], [https://topostext.org/work/241#K373.9 s.v. Κορησσός].</ref>

According to a local tradition, Apollo was not born on Delos at all, but in Tegyra, a town in [[Boeotia]], where he was worshipped as Apollo Tegyraeus.<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Pelopidas'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0054%3Achapter%3D16%3Asection%3D3 16.3]</ref>

[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], a grammarian who lived during the late 300s AD and early 400s AD, wrote that Artemis was born first because first came the night, whose instrument is the moon, which Artemis represents, and then the day, whose instrument is the sun, which Apollo represents.<ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], ''Commentary on [[Virgil|Virgil's]] [[Aeneid]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0053%3Abook%3D3%3Acommline%3D73 3.73]</ref> Pindar however writes that both twins shone like the sun when they came into the bright light.{{sfn|Rutherford|2001|pages=[https://archive.org/details/rutherford-2001-pindars-paeans/page/364/mode/2up?view=theater 364–365]}}