Editing Leto (section)

==== 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.